Marion, Iowa © Tasha Sams
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July is National Parks and Recreation Month. Parks and other green spaces play an important role in Main Street districts. They provide gathering and resting spaces, improve recreational opportunities, increase sustainability, and add to a sense of place. To celebrate #ParksMonthOnMain, we have been featuring videos of innovative and interesting parks-based projects and collaborations in Main Street communities on our social media channels. Check out the videos here and learn more about each project.
In 2021, Ashland Main Street in Ashland, Ohio, opened Foundation Plaza, a park and performance venue in the heart of the downtown district. Since then, they have used the Plaza as the home of their ‘Music on Main’ summer concert series. The Plaza was created in collaboration with the Ashland County Community Foundation, which gave the Plaza its name. This project transformed an underutilized downtown lot into a vibrant community space. The project has also activated collaborations with other local organizations, bringing continued momentum for community change.
Gaston Edwards Park, located in Ivanhoe Village in Orlando, Florida, hosts the annual Jingle Eve event, the annual kick-off to the Orlando holiday season. Ivanhoe Village has run the event for more than 20 years, and it has grown to include music, arts and crafts, food vendors, a holiday village, and promotions from local businesses. To help pay for Jingle Eve, Ivanhoe Village partners with the local parks department and Keep Orlando Beautiful to host annual district-wide clean-up events. “Our Parks Department allows us to log volunteer hours from our clean-up to go towards the cost of renting the park for Jingle Eve,” said Allex Englett, Executive Director at Ivanhoe Village. “In recent years, these clean ups have helped us cut the cost to rent Gaston Edwards in half.”
Main Street Skowhegan in Skowhegan, Maine, is lucky to be home to a section of the Kennebec River, and their new river park will help them take full advantage of this unique asset. The project has three parts. First, they are increasing river access by adding a set of stairs and an ADA ramp down to the water. Second, they are enhancing the whitewater in the river to turn it into a destination for kayaking, surfing, river boarding, stand-up paddleboarding, and tubing. Finally, they are adding a two-mile pedestrian and bike path. These improvements will strengthen the downtown’s connection to the river and turn Skowhegan into a regional recreation destination.
Looking to get started on a parks and recreation project or collaboration in your district? Check out these quick tips to get inspired.
Familiarize yourself with the assets in your community. Do you already have a solid park with strong programming? Do you have unique natural features that may draw people in? Is there a vacant lot nearby in need of creative redevelopment? Keep an eye on the green spaces (or potential green spaces) in your district and stay open to opportunities.
Start small. If you don’t already have a strong parks and recreation component in your district, now is a great time to start planting those seeds. Try setting up a temporary parklet and see how people interact with it. Add planters or a community garden. Foster connections with nearby green spaces that are outside your district.
Identify key partners. Is your local parks and recreation department familiar with your Main Street organization? Are there local environmental organizations, greenways, or volunteer groups that manage green spaces in your community? Many successful parks projects rely on strong partnerships. Start building those relationships now, even if you don’t have a project in mind yet.
Be creative. Parks and recreation projects can be more than summer concert series and events. Think outside the box and imagine larger ways that your mission connects with the green spaces around you. Can you use a park to improve walkability? Add a sense of place? Mitigate climate effects? Provide opportunities for entrepreneurship and small business support? Turn your downtown into a regional destination? The possibilities are endless!
Hestia Creations, a Main Street America Allied Member, is this quarter's Main Spotlight advertiser. For more information about the products and services they provide to Main Street organizations, click here >
REV Birmingham and Woodlawn United share how they work to reenergize spaces and places in Birmingham, Alabama, through civic infrastructure projects in the city’s historic commercial corridors.
Learn how this Louisiana town has used an accessibility-first approach to build a welcoming and inclusive community.
Downtown Ruston, Louisiana. Photo by Henry McCoy.
Learn how the Little Five Points neighborhood of Atlanta uses this unique mural program to celebrate Valentine's Day and raise important funding for their work.
Learn how micromobility can increase access, equity, and inclusion in your Main Street with examples from local programs across the network.
This Washington Main Street is encouraging people to brave the rainy weather with their free umbrella share program.
Parking is a challenging problem for many Main Streets. We explored the arguments for and against free parking, and a method for conducting an inventory of parking in your downtown.
Miami, FL © Matt Alaniz
Learn how Bainbridge Island Downtown Association leverages their connection to the ferry to create a walkable and vibrant downtown.
Bainbridge Island, WA © Anna Carson
An innovative artistic project brings new life to the alleyways in Billings, Montana.
Billings, MT © Downtown Billings Alliance
In big cities and small towns, people face increasing danger when navigating communities on foot. As advocates for connected and walkable downtowns, Main Streets have a crucial role to play in increasing pedestrian safety.
Lansing, Michigan © Lansing 5:01
Learn how you can participate in the Thriving Communities program as a capacity builder or how you can receive support from the program.
Waterloo, Iowa, shares advice and lessons learned from their e-scooter program.
Learn how you can harness design principles and strategies to create a cooler, more welcoming downtown.
Main Street America was awarded $5.9 million to support 20 communities in the Main Streets Community of Practice through the Department of Transportation's Thriving Communities Program over the next two years.
The City of Leeds, AL welcomed a new downtown mural over the holidays that has brought a sense of excitement and anticipation for the continuing efforts to focus on the Leeds downtown district.
Leeds, AL © Jeremy Dove
What is more Iowan than turning grain bins into public art? Learn how Main Street Coon Rapids created these beautiful murals to celebrate their downtown.
Coon Rapids, IA © Main Street Coon Rapids
Pollinator gardens are fantastic ways to increase green space, promote sustainability, and educate your community on the local environment.
Crofton, MD © Kerry Kelly
The AARP Community Challenge program gives out quick-action grants to activate public spaces. Meet some of the Main Streets awarded grants through the program this year.
Learn how these outdoor microspaces can contribute to more vibrancy in our public spaces.
Chairman Emeritus Ed McMahon explores the power of place in creating spaces people love.
Boise, ID © christiannafzger
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
Intentional placemaking has had many unexpected benefits for this Alabama town.
Wetumpka, AL © Jenny Sue Stubbs
We heard from organizations across the nation about the incredible impact their markets have had on community engagement, entrepreneur and small business support, and keeping their district vibrant.
Mount Airy Downtown, Inc., celebrated the return of their Market Street Arts and Entertainment District (MSA & ED) last weekend, as part of their pandemic recovery efforts.
Mount Airy, NC © Robbie Curlee
A vacant storefront is the perfect stage to creatively promote the available space or to showcase other businesses and events in the area.
Ripon, WI © RetailWorks, Inc
Interested in creating a StoryWalk in your downtown commercial district? Read on to learn more about installing a successful story walking trail.
In remembrance and in honor of Dr. Marin Luther King Jr., over 900 streets in the United States were named after him. Many are located predominantly in African American communities.
Milwaukee, WI © Historic King Drive BID
Dubbed the Blues Alley, the Ripley Main Street program plans to install murals of local pioneering Black blues artists, cutout guitars painted by local art students, and blues lyrics painted on the walls.
Ripley, MS © Ripley Main Street
The Downtown Newton Development Association (North Carolina) partnered with the City of Newton on a temporary tactical urbanism project to demonstrate how their permanent streetscape improvements will benefit downtown.
Over 500 people braved the misty rain this past weekend to come and celebrate Painesville and its Made on Main Street community transformation project.
Wilson Artsy Alleys is an initiative of the Wilson Downtown Development Corporation which takes the arts to new locations in forgotten places.
In October 2017, Main Street Ottumwa collaborated with local partners, Main Street Iowa, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Better Block Foundation to stop planning, talking, and wishing, and start doing.
Kelly Tompkins of Main Street Enid shares more about the Maker Trail project and how it inspired creativity and helped people discover downtown.
The Metuchen Downtown Alliance created a cool, family-friendly public gathering space in “the worst looking spot in town” with the help of just $2,500 in Edward Jones Placemaking on Main Challenge matching grant funds,
A collaborative effort launched between Laramie Main Street Alliance (LMSA) and vertical farming company, Plenty, looked to blank downtown walls as a canvas for growing food, creating conversation, and activating overlooked spaces.
From walkability and transportation connectivity, to access to nature and availability of fresh food, place is inextricably linked to achieving positive health outcomes in rural America.
Beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower fountain through Main Street Paris's new Love Lock Fence.
Kasey Drummond, Glenrock Main Street Director, explains how they brought the acclaimed graffiti artist ARCY to their Main Street and explores the work he produced in three additional Wyoming communities on his summer tour.
Karen Dye, Newkirk Main Street's program manager, was inspired to “make downtown more fun and festive” with painted water meter covers after learning about the practice at a recent Main Street Now conference.
Appealing to mobility-challenged shoppers yields benefits beyond the store.
In contrast, the Main Street Program in Laramie, Wyoming, is thriving, having successfully cultivated millions of dollars to help fill these vacant, blighted spaces with permanent structures.
In this article we’ll explore the process of planning, funding, installing, operating, and enjoying music on your Main Street.
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.
Placemaking is a strategy that Six Corners Association has enthusiastically applied to our community development efforts because of its seamless integration with the Main Street Approach.
How one Wyoming Main Street implemented a free bike share program.
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.
The local Main Street organization, Downtown Milford Inc., is trying to address these shifting demographics by creating a more inclusive sense of community.
This is the story of how a National Endowment for the Arts gathering in DC inspired the leaders of a small town in Appalachia to connect with those in Milwaukee to transform a neglected park.
Main Street communities across the country are no stranger to seeking creative strategies to solve their most nagging issues – vacant buildings, marketing downtown, bolstering retail to name a few.
This article is the second in a series on corridors and the important role they play in Main Street revitalization. The previous article focused on the historic origins of corridors, corridor types, and functions that they serve in our communities.
Façade appearance is a critical aspect of the overall aesthetic appeal and unique character of downtown.
While the Main Street program may not take the lead in corridor enhancements, it can be a vital partner and advocate for improvements in overall community appearance.
Street pole banners preserve the historic character of main streets while fostering community awareness and engagement.
With strong community support, the Library Foundation was able to raise over $1.2 million dollars in private donations.
A lot of signs are necessary to make a downtown work well, but not every community knows what a good sign system looks like, or how instrumental it can be to the creation of a successful downtown.
A key goal of the Atlanta Streetcar is to attract investment to and revitalize the neighborhoods along the streetcar alignment.
