Marion, Iowa © Tasha Sams
We work in collaboration with thousands of local partners and grassroots leaders across the nation who share our commitment to advancing shared prosperity, creating resilient economies, and improving quality of life.
Emporia, Kansas © Emporia Main Street
Made up of small towns, mid-sized communities, and urban commercial districts, the thousands of organizations, individuals, volunteers, and local leaders that make up Main Street America™ represent the broad diversity that makes this country so unique.
Chicago, Illinois © Main Street America
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Waterloo, Iowa © Main Street Waterloo
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Kendall Whittier — Tulsa, Oklahoma © Kendall Whittier Main Street
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On May 9, the National Trust for Historic Preservation released its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2023. For the first time in its 36-year history, this list—which raises awareness about some of our country’s most significant sites and the threats that they face—included a cultural district located within a designated Main Street America community.
Little Santo Domingo in Miami, Florida, is the commercial and cultural heart of Allapattah, one of the city's oldest neighborhoods. It has been shaped by a history of immigration, continual reinvention, and entrepreneurial innovation reminiscent to many American towns. Originally Seminole land, the first significant demographic shift occurred as White residents moved into the area concurrent with Miami’s development into a metropolitan hub during the 1920s.
Throughout the 20th century, distinct waves of new residents of Cuban, African American, and Dominican ancestry followed. In 2003, the City of Miami named a portion of Allapattah “Little Santo Domingo,” in recognition of the Dominican residents who moved to the area beginning in the 1980s. Today, Little Santo Domingo is home to 300 small businesses, a diverse community of Hispanic, Black, and immigrant residents, and a rich cultural heritage essential to the identity of Allapattah.
Today the neighborhood – defined by NW 17th Avenue between 20th and 36th Street – is also home to local leaders and organizations, such as The Allapattah Collaborative (TAC), committed to investing in the community’s future while preserving its past. TAC emerged from a community engagement process focused on creating an equitable development action plan for the neighborhood. In 2021, after a rigorous two-year application process, TAC earned designation as a Main Street program, followed quickly by designation as Florida Main Street community. Like Main Street programs across the country, TAC is leading efforts to honor and preserve the neighborhood’s rich local history, cultural heritage, and entrepreneurial spirit, while increasing economic prosperity.
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From supporting hundreds of family-owned, community-serving small businesses to developing a community-driven neighborhood master plan that includes heritage preservation strategies, TAC, residents, partners, and business owners exemplify the visionary work of Main Street leaders.
Little Santo Domingo’s inclusion on the 2023 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places acknowledges that this historic commercial corridor is facing significant pressure from speculative real estate development that threatens to demolish older structures and displace existing residents and businesses. However, this designation also recognizes Little Santo Domingo as a district that is exemplary of the quintessential American story – one that is an interconnected tapestry of immigration, ingenuity, resilience, and a culture of possibility – and one whose legacy is worthy of preserving.
The community is particularly concerned about losing its cultural identity and mix of neighborhood-serving small businesses, including restaurants, bakeries, barber shops, salons, and auto repair shops. For this reason, TAC plans to leverage this designation to bolster proactive, grassroots initiatives, including:
Fundraising for their Thrive In-Place Fund to acquire and develop commercial properties using a community land trust model to ensure long-term affordability for residents and businesses;
Developing a community-driven neighborhood master plan that includes heritage preservation strategies such as local and national historic designation;
Creating a more open and inclusive public process regarding decision-making about development in the neighborhood.
Communities like Little Santo Domingo are the heartbeat of a city, and the visionary work of The Allapattah Collaborative to proactively respond to threats of displacement through holistic, strategic, and community-centered initiatives provides a valuable model for advancing long-term strategies for sustainable growth.
Allapattah leaders hope that this designation lifts up the district as a national example for how Main Street leaders build community wealth, celebrate diverse cultural legacies, and support local entrepreneurship at the neighborhood scale.
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SnowShoe, a Main Street America Allied Member, is this quarter's Main Spotlight advertiser. For more information about what they do to support Main Street organizations, click here >
For Preservation Month, Senior Program Officer Lisa Thompson explores why preservation matters and how Main Streets can celebrate and protect their historic assets.
Nevada, Iowa © Main Street America
At Fort Vancouver in Vancouver, Washington, Native Hawaiians played a critical role in the success of the Hudson Bay Company. Today, Vancouver’s Hawaiian history and heritage plays a crucial role in efforts to reenergize the city’s historic downtown.
Understanding the Advisory Council on Historic Preservations report on federal historic preservation standards.
Toccoa, GA © Steph Maley
In this video, learn more about the Williams’ family story, how the business is helping to revive downtown Helena, and the impact they’re having on a national level.
Learn how Albany, Georgia, recognizes their civil rights legacy and supports the African American community today.
Kathy LaPlante shares her experiences visiting Vermont communities during their recovery from devastating floods.
© Tripp Muldrow
In honor of National Disaster Preparedness Month, we are providing some practical steps that Main Streets can take to prepare for the next, inevitable disaster.
© Adog
Learn the historic and cultural significance of neon signs, and strategies that Main Streets can use to preserve these unique assets.
Main Street America is leading a coalition urging that the EPA make available the GGRF funds for adaptive reuse and location-efficient projects because of the substantial greenhouse gas emissions reduction offered by such developments.
From 19th-century mill girls to Maine's mill redevelopments and the regional manufacturers of tomorrow, learn about the amazing history and promise of the New England mill.
Biddeford, ME © Heart of Biddeford
Learn the unique history of Folsom, New Mexico, and how they are working with New Mexico MainStreet today.
This article was published on January 10, 2023, by Next City, a nonprofit news organization focused on socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable urban practices.
Learn how Rethos, the Coordinating partner for Minnesota Main Streets, has partnered with Reuse Minnesota and the Minnesota GreenCorps Program to encourage community-led preservation.
© Rethos
Four recommendations that Main Street districts can apply right now to start preparing for the next natural disaster.
Learn how Main Streets can partner with the National Trust Community Investment Corporation to take advantage of the Historic Tax Credit.
© Troy Thies
Ed McMahon shares recommendations and insights on how Main Streets can use sign design to improve sense of place on Main Streets.
Main Street organizations and other public-private partnerships can provide the focal point needed to fulfill the large number of roles required to reuse or redevelop a house of worship in a way that benefits the community.
Learn about The Bottom, a historic African-American community in Thomasville, Georgia, and efforts to preserve it's history and share it's story.
Thomasville, GA © City of Thomasville
New Mexico MainStreet partnered with Main Street America to utilize a NPS Main Street Facade Improvement Grant.
Gallup, NM © New Mexico MainStreet
How do those amazing Main Street rehabilitation projects happen? And what policies and public support make them happen? In the Behind the Ribbon Cutting series, we look at a project or businesses from concept to opening day to break down the partnerships and funding brought to bear and recognize how we can advocate for policies and resources for revitalization across the country.
Astoria, OR © ADHDA
Main Street America's GIS intern shares the results of a project to map the boundaries of all designated Main Street districts.
Main Street America welcomed the National Association For Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) to our Twitter channel to share stories of resiliency in Latino communities.
Main Street America welcomed to our Instagram Stories the Allapattah Collaborative CDC, a Main Street program in Miami, Florida.
Miami, FL © Allapattah Collaborative CDC
We sat down with Lindsey Wallace, Director of Strategic Projects and Design Services and manager of the the National Park Service Main Street Community Disaster Preparedness and Resilience Program, to learn more about her perspective on disaster preparedness on Main Street.
To support Georgia Main Streets throughout the recovery process and position them for long-term sustainability, Main Street America launched the Georgia Main Street Innovation Grant Program, made possible through generous support from The Williams Family Foundation of Georgia.
Thomasville, GA © Thomasville Main Street
The Association for Preservation Technology International (APT) Main Street Task Force is working to increase education, compile examples and data, and provide recommended changes at the national level where necessary.
Texas First Lady Cecilia Abbott joined Texas Main Street and Texas Historical Commission staff, management and Commissioners to welcome Temple and Pearsall into the 89-city Texas Main Street network.
As part of the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta’s Grants to Green program, Maine was designated one of two national replication sites.
After more than five years of consistent advocacy, the 20 percent historic tax credit (HTC) has survived the most significant rewrite of the tax code in more than 30 years.
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Main Street merchants in two communities in Michigan and Kentucky, as well as a fellow Texas Main Street community, jumped in to help their Texas colleagues.
In the midst of this human and cultural disaster, the Main Street program, managed by the Ellicott City Partnership, collaborated with Preservation Maryland to provide a variety of disaster relief financing that helped expedite the recovery.
In 2016, the North Carolina Main Street & Rural Planning Center partnered with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Department of Interior Architecture (UNCG) to provide design assistance to Main Street communities.
In 2015, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) partnered with the University of Wisconsin–Madison to engage Wisconsin Main Street organizations and farmers markets in the Metrics and Indicators for Impact – Farmers Markets (MIFI-FM) toolkit.
With 413 National Park areas¹ and over 1,000 Main Street America programs, it’s no surprise that many of the communities following the Four Point Approach serve as gateways to our national parks.
Eight historic downtowns in Vermont turned massive flooding into opportunities to build back stronger than before the flood.
As living pieces of American history, our Main Street communities each have a story to tell. It’s up to us to bring those stories to life.
The economic value of historic preservation on Main Street.
We measure the effectiveness of our last marketing campaign, weigh whether the investment in new street lights outweigh the political capital spent, and debate if the thousands of volunteer hours are worth the impacts created by a one-day event.
Main Street Iowa, a program of the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Iowa Downtown Resource Center, created a one-of-a-kind three-year program to provide help for performance venues located in Main Street districts.
