Board Spotlight: Meet Main Street America’s Three New Board Members
We are excited to welcome Lynda Tran, Tyrone Rachal, and Mary Helmer Wirth to the Main Street America Board of Directors
Spending time with you at the Main Street Now conference in Richmond gave my spirit a much-needed boost. Our times too often fill us with anxiety, worry, and sadness. Being in Richmond with you, experiencing the sheer joy of being surrounded by people who love what they’ve been called to do, filled my heart.
The too-short conversations I had with many of you, as well as with Main Street America staff, plus gleanings from the sessions I was able to sample, prompt me to offer a couple of observations:
Lighten Up. While still (eternally, if you really want my opinion) valid, the Four Point Approach is not a stone tablet checklist. It is a set of lenses through which to understand your downtown and respond accordingly. Let’s look through them for a minute.
- Organization: Having a committee for each “Point” made sense in the 1970s, when we started out. Volunteerism has changed dramatically since then. People able and willing to volunteer are scarce now – they are way too time-crunched. It’s become even more difficult as the pandemic triggered life choices. All volunteer-based non-profits are experiencing this. The savviest are adapting by cutting down on standing committees, continuing to hold most meetings via Zoom or Teams, recruiting fresh volunteers willing to take on special tasks or short assignments, and not requiring long term commitment. Is your organizational model in need of refreshing?
- Promotion: Special events are another holdover from the olden days of Main Street. At the time, no one was coming downtown anymore. No one. We had to give them a reason to return, to experience the changes being made. Special events were the only way to do this. It worked. Main Street organizations produced them because no one else was. Events can still be important, but producing them can be a draining time sink, not to mention burning out scarce volunteers. If still needed – and look at this “if” carefully – doing them by bringing sponsored popular events downtown through partnerships with other organizations can achieve the purpose with less investment of precious staff and volunteer time.
- Design: Today it seems to me getting people to live in or near downtown is a missed opportunity. This takes housing. Whether upper stories, conversion of big buildings to flats, or well-scaled new residential development, having more walking traffic creates more vitality, more business for retailers. Don’t be constrained by the actual boundaries of your district, people can and will walk farther. Consider giving priority to fostering downtown living. Identify what this will take and start doing it. When you have a moment, I encourage you to check out MSA’s recently released publication, At Home on Main Street, for detailed insights on the state of housing in Main Street districts.
- Economic Vitality: Did you know that in the next 5 – 7 years as many as 100,000 churches will close? Mainline religion is in decline everywhere. Many Main Streets boast several imposing mainline churches. Dwindling, aging congregations, rising operating costs and a built-in reluctance to change could leave your downtown with white elephant buildings more difficult to adapt than the last white elephant – department stores. Church buildings can have new life. The time to begin is now, by finding out more about this under-the-radar dilemma. Start by reading Exploring the Reuse Opportunity for Houses of Worship on Main Street on the MSA blog for an overview.
Celebrate! Whether you staff a downtown organization, serve on the board or volunteer, all of you are doing the vital work of seeing that things get done, making sure your downtown is a point of community pride. Step back from time to time and reflect on what’s going right, what’s happened that you played a role in creating. Pat yourself on the back. And take care of yourselves. Richmond was a firehose. Rest a bit. Then, resume play.
Thank you to each and every one of you. I learn from you every day.
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The National Main Street Center, Inc., announced Downtown Oregon City, Rock Springs Main Street/Urban Renewal Agency, and Howell Main Street as the 2018 Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) winners during its annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri.
Main Streets in Action
We rolled out four new Main Street America videos highlighting the power of the Main Street movement, Main Street Approach, economic impact of Main Street, and the incredible volunteers that make Main Street's grassroots network so effective.
Community Spotlight: Ridgefield Main Street
Ridgefield Main Street is an energetic, up-and-coming Washington Main Street program located just north of Vancouver, Washington.
Want to do something big? Start small.
A series of small, incremental improvements, when taken together, provide momentum for long-term economic transformation and improved quality of life in a community.
Michigan Main Street Refresh Implementation: The Refresh from Our Communities’ Perspective
Here's a bit of background on each of the communities. Read on for the Refresh Implementation Q&A.
Announcing the 2017 Great American Main Street Award Winners
The National Main Street Center, Inc. announced the 2017 Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) during its annual conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Reality of Main Street — Letter from the President
The National Main Street Center and the Brookings Institution have jointly authored a response to Mr. Hyman’s piece, The Reality of Main Street, that is featured on Brookings’ blog.
Michigan Main Street Refresh Implementation: Our Process and Lessons Learned So Far
Michigan Main Street Center was the first Coordinating Program to implement the new Main Street approach on a large scale. In this article, they share their robust process and valuable lessons.
The Reality of Main Street
There is another way for smaller communities to compete in today’s economy and we believe a strong main street strategy is at the heart of it.
The Myth of Main Street? Letter from the President
Letter from past MSA President, Patrice Frey
The Lowdown in Downtown LaBelle
Fritz the dog has made his way into the hearts of the residents of LaBelle, Florida, and helped our Main Street Community find a way to make what we do more noticeable.
Strategic Planning Through Transformation Strategies – Saline, Michigan
Back in October 2015, we introduced the three key components of the refreshed Main Street Approach: inputs, outputs and Community Transformation Strategies.
Revitalization and Main Street Transformation
For a lucky few downtowns, greatness may happen effortlessly with a strong sense of place that seems to develop organically and simply sustain itself. For most places, success doesn’t happen by chance.
Revisit Your Community’s Unique Assets: Connecting Asset-Based Economic Development to Community Transformation Strategies
This need for change results from the heavy emphasis on three components of the refreshed Main Street Approach.
The 2016 Great American Main Street Award Winners
The 2016 winners are a diverse group in geography and character, but together demonstrate the broad applicability of the Main Street Approach:
Main Street Nation Radio
The first official show under the Main Street Nation banner aired in June 2015 on WJR-760 AM Detroit.
The Path To The Future
The economic value of historic preservation on Main Street.
Refresh Demonstration Project Sites: Learning Labs for the Updated Main Street Approach
A series of demonstration projects providing the opportunity to test new strategies on the ground, learn from practitioners, and refine the approach.
Why Business Retention and Expansion Plans are Important for Downtowns
A business retention and expansion plan, properly implemented, not only helps keep businesses open but possibly even helps them expand.
Wisconsin Main Street: 27 Years of People, Places and Progress
While there have been over $1.2 billion in public and private investment in Wisconsin Main Street communities over the past 27 years, what really makes it special are the people and places that have been involved.
Pop-Up Art Tour
Main Street Bartow's empty storefronts become pop-up art galleries to promote economic development.
A Walk Through Rehoboth Beach Main Street
Although a “beach town,” Rehoboth Beach is open 365 days a year, and with that has the unique challenge of catering to both year-round residents and tourists within a wide range of ages, interests and economic levels
Independent We Stand Makes Main Streets a Priority
In communities across the country, hardworking business owners and buy local advocates come together to foster an organized effort to reinvent and revitalize Main Streets and downtown districts.
Announcing the 2015 Great American Main Street Award Winners
The National Main Street Center is pleased to announce that Cape Girardeau, Mo., Montclair Center, N.J., and Rawlins, Wyo. were selected as the 2015 Great American Main Street Award® (GAMSA) winners.
