1. Say YES! To Downtown
Economic Stability Through the Main Street Four Point Approach®
2. What is the Main Street Program®?
Method of comprehensive downtown
revitalization
Place-based economic development
Improving traditional business districts
through design, marketing, business and
job retention and creation, organization
3. The Main Street Four Point Approach®
Economic Restructuring: Creating and
maintaining an environment for business growth and
job creation [economic]
Design: Using historic preservation and adaptive
reuse to create a positive user and visitor experience
[physical]
Promotion: Positioning downtown in a changing
marketplace [social]
Organization: Managing and sustaining the
process of building a vibrant downtown [political]
[Main Street Four Point Approach® is based on the forces of value in real estate development]
4. The Main Street Approach®
The Four •Organization
•Design
Points® •Economic Restructuring
•Promotion
Eight •Comprehensive
•Change
Principles •Self-Help
•Incremental
•Implementation Oriented
•Public/Private Partnership
•Assets
•Quality
5. National Trust Main Street Center
•National Leader in Downtown Revitalization
•Network of Practitioners and Communities
•Research
•Advocacy
•Training
•Standards and Certification
Nebraska Main Street
•Coordinator of the Network in Nebraska
•Information Resources
•Training and Education
•Advocacy
•Support and Guidance
Nebraska’s Main Street Communities
•Organization---coordination of the local effort
•Design—physical improvements
•Economic Development—businesses & jobs
•Promotion—marketing of the district
6. Nebraska Main Street Communities
Wayne
Alliance
Fremont
Sidney
Grand Island
York
Bassett Kearney
Elkhorn
Hastings Plattsmouth
Lexington
McCook Nebraska
Osceola Beatrice City
Schuyler
Falls City
7. Levels of Participation
NTMSC Accredited Main Street Community
› Established Main Street community that annually meets the criteria for
National accreditation
Designated Main Street Community
› Established Main Street organization meeting the requirements for
designation
Designated Urban Main Street District
› Established Main Street organization in Omaha or Lincoln meeting the
requirements for designation
Aspiring Main Street Community
› Actively working to establish a Main Street organization; must meet required
set of objectives before being eligible to apply for designation
Associate Member Community
› Any Nebraska community regardless of size or organizational capacity
8. Programming
Board, Committee, Manager Connecting people to resources
Training, Support & Technical Preservation Incentives (Fed/State)
Assistance Promotion and marketing
› Organizational issues and
National Main Street Network
challenges Listserve
› Special projects assistance
Out-of-State presentations
› Advise and guidance
Annual Awards Recognition
› Orientation and ongoing
Grants and Partnerships
education
National Trust & Main Street Center
Conferences and Workshops Grants and Recognition
Lunch & Learn › GAMSA
Information resources Letters of Support/Grant Application
Media relations Assistance
Website/Social Media (Facebook)
Orientation and other gatherings of
the network
Advocacy
9. If you’re not working
the program, the
program is not going to
work for you!
10. Economic Impact of Main Street
National Nebraska
(1980-Dec 2011) (1994-June 2012)
Financial Investment in Physical Improvement $53.6 Billion $107 Million
Projects Public & Private
(facades, building rehab, new construction, streetscape & other
public improvement projects)
Net Business Gain 104,961 643
Net Job Gain 448,835 1,810
Volunteer Hours -- 262,227
Reinvestment Per $1 Spent to Operate Local $18.00 to $1 $16.63 to $1
Main Street Programs
11. Advantages of Downtown Revitalization
Saves Community Identity
Improves Community Identity
Helps the Environment
› http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/sustainability/green-
lab/lca/The_Greenest_Building_lowres.pdf
Improves the Economy
› http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/publications/Nebraska_Hist_Pres_Econ.p
df
12. Why Are Main Streets Important?
Center of employment in the community
Reflection of community pride, image, prosperity, & level of
investment
Ideal place for independent businesses
It’s the heart of the community
Often a tourist attraction
Reduces sprawl
Protects commercial and residential property values
Convenient
Government and financial center for the community
Provides a place for the community to come together
Represents a huge public and private investment
13. What it takes
Working
Commitment Money Knowledge Participation Patience
Together
14. Positioning for successful revitalization
The right people, the right place, the right time
Creativity
Time and commitment
No fear—take risks, fail and learn from it
No quit attitude
Strong communication
Ability to form partnerships and cooperation
Knowing your vision and purpose
Projects and actions that create an atmosphere
that reduce the risk of starting a business or making
an investment in redevelopment
FUN!!!
15. Benefits
Technical Assistance
› Organizational support, training, visioning, and work plan
development
Free Networking and Information
› Information on a variety of topics related to downtown
revitalization
Access to statewide training (Lunch & Learn) or programs
in designated communities
National Main Streets Conference
› 2013 in New Orleans—cultural and heritage tourism
Membership listing
› Website, annual report, promotional materials, news
National Main Street Center Network Membership
› Main Street Now
› Website resources for members only
› Access to communication and information sharing with
2,000+ other communities around the country
16. What the Main Street Program Has Done
for Communities
Keeping businesses alive in our Catalyst for investment in downtown
communities
Increased job Increased cooperation between
opportunities community organizations
Increased cooperation between
Brought attention back to the core of businesses
the community
The organizational structure to get
Recycle and reuse of historic things done
buildings for economic development
Increased events and activities in the Increased activity
downtown
+ increased investment
+ jobs and businesses
Increased engagement w/City
Government = more $$ revenue & a
prosperous, healthy
community
Add your own benefit here __________________
17. Main Street Associate Membership
Technical
Open to any community or organization
assistance, support, guidance, training, and
regardless of population size
information
$450/year
Networking and information resources National Main Street Network Membership
Many other “revitalization” programs tend to be piecemeal or single focused—this is the only one that provides a comprehensive framework and requires all four components to work together for it to be successful and sustainable.Main Street is place-based economic development—PLACE being the traditional Main Street business district centered around a town square or down a corridor—historic preservation is a primary activity but not the only one. Let’s face it—historic preservation has developed a negative reputation. Roadblocks, regulatory challenges, money…those communities who choose to embrace it and use their assets to their advantage do not let the roadblocks or perceived roadblocks get in the way. These are communities that are willing to think outside the box—they aren’t tied to only one way of doing things and by taking that risk, they tend to benefit much more than those communities who cannot think creatively.I like to think what we do at Main Street is adaptive reuse or reuse of what we already have. Genuine is what people want. It’s what people appreciate. You can’t fabricate character and get away with it. Main Street is about maintaining community character and community character is the one single asset that you have in hand that you don’t have to “create” or “re-create”. It’s also a marathon not a sprint. Too many communities look at it as a short-term, single project when in fact it is a long-term, comprehensive management system. A large investment has been made in improvements both public and private sector. You cannot afford to repeat that investment every 10-years. Our traditional town center’s did not deteriorate overnight and therefore take time and money to bring them back. You do not want them falling into that same hole after you have made the effort to bring them back to life. On the same hand, not every district has fallen so deep into the hole that they need revival. Some have maintained health but could be healthier. The Main Street program isn’t just about those that have fallen into the deep, it’s a program to help those districts who are healthy but don’t want to fall into the deep.Business assistance isn’t going to revitalize a downtown on its own.Training and education isn’t going to revitalize a downtown on its own.A one-time infusion of planning money from DED isn’t going to revitalize a downtown on its own.One big project or streetscape improvement will not revitalize downtown.
NATIONAL--Main Street is America's leading downtown revitalization program, born from and uniquely linked to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. STATE--Main Street State Coordinating programs provide education and support to local Main Street programs using the Main Street Four Point Approach® and building the capacity for those communities to address the challenges of downtown revitalization. Advocacy comes in the form of educating and marketing—why our downtowns are important and why people should support activities that further economic development and revitalization.LOCAL--Local Main Street programs take the burden off of downtown businesses so they can focus on their business at hand. The local Main Street program looks after promotion of the district; works with local, state and federal government bodies to address issues affecting downtown; provides training and information that businesses need; and they work to fill vacancies and improve the downtown district physically and economically. The local Main Street programs purpose is to: foster economic growth and development in the Main Street district; create an atmosphere conducive for business development and job creation using existing assets (historic buildings, traditional commercial character, people, existing businesses)Local Main Street programs have benefited from the educational programming, support and the guidance provided to them by Heritage Nebraska Main Street. Main Street communities have improved their business districts making them desirable for business development and job creation. They have created destinations for people to shop for goods and services. They have created a place for learning about community history and architecture. They have created a gathering place where the community comes together to laugh, mourn, eat, shop, socialize and celebrate.
LEVELS of PARTICIPATIONDesignated Main Street Community—Has a formal organization or a formal program within an organization with a dedicated board of directors and paid staff management in place—follows the Main Street Approach. Communities have highest level of access to programming and support.Associate Member Community—no formal organization in place, but it may be a committee or small group of people working on downtown—some communities are working toward designation, others are happy to be connected and have access to the assistance and resources, programming and support at a limited levelWe’ll talk about “how to” sign up for Associate Membership and the benefits toward the end of the presentation
12 Economic Benefits of Historic Preservation (there is a more detailed handout on the National Trust’s website)Rehab Costs are Roughly the Same as Building NewCreates JobsIncreases Property ValuesConserves ResourcesUses Existing Public InvestmentsSupports Small BusinessRevitalizes Main StreetsAttracts InvestmentAttracts VisitorsPrevents SprawlCreates Affordable HousingIs Good Economic DevelopmentIn Nebraska the economic impact study revealed—preservation generates $170 million a year22 jobs are created for every $1 million spent on preservationhistoric designation protects property values
Saves community identity—people know our towns by what they look like; the landmark buildings and homes; the roads; the townscape—when you tear these buildings down you leave holes and more than likely there won’t be a knight in shining armor to come along and build a new building therefore you continue to destroy your community identity to the point where it is unrecognizable and not worth stopping let alone moving to—you’ve wasted the money to tear these buildings down instead of looking at how that money could have been invested into stabilization.Improves community identity—fixing the eyesores and bringing back a sense of vibrancy; new businesses, improved existing businesses, full occupancy, congestion on the streets, attention to the activity going on—not just the physical identity but also the renewed sense of pride and excitementThe environment—key findings from a recently released study--Reuse Matters. Building reuse typically offers greater environmental savings than demolition and new construction. It can take between 10 to 80 years for a new energy efficient building to overcome, through efficient operations, the climate change impacts created by its construction. The study finds that the majority of building types in different climates will take between 20-30 years to compensate for the initial carbon impacts from construction.Scale Matters. Collectively, building reuse and retrofits substantially reduce climate change impacts. Retrofitting, rather than demolishing and replacing, just 1% of the city of Portland’s office buildings and single family homes over the next ten years would help to meet 15% of their county’s total CO2 reduction targets over the next decade.Design Matters. The environmental benefits of reuse are maximized by minimizing the input of new construction materials. Renovation projects that require many new materials can reduce or even negate the benefits of reuse.The economy—talk about jobs created not only by the businesses, but also by the work of historic preservation and adaptive reuse. The Bottom Line: Reusing existing buildings is good for the economy, the community and the environment. At a time when our country’s foreclosure and unemployment rates remain high, communities would be wise to reinvest in their existing building stock. Historic rehabilitation has a thirty-two year track record of creating 2 million jobs and generating $90 billion in private investment. Studies show residential rehabilitation creates 50% more jobs than new construction.The Main Street program is really about maintaining and enhancing what we have already. The buildings, the businesses and the people. Keeping and creating jobs, keeping and creating businesses, attracting tourists to eat, shop, spend time, learn to appreciate what is there and what is unique about your community. ALL WHILE USING WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE!!
Working together—it isn’t just one organization’s job—it’s the City, the citizens, the businesses, Chamber, Economic Development, Main Street, tourism—all entities working together.Sometimes it takes a “catalyst” project to get the community working together. For example in Geneva. Interest in the Main Street program came after renovation of the courthouse. That “gem” forced everyone to realize that the town square was rough and needed to come up to par with the courthouse. In some communities the advent of upper floor housing or development of a “white elephant” building can really get the ball rolling and force a community to realize it needs to put a focused effort on downtown.
Successful Main Street programs do not let obstacles or challenges get in their way. The commitment by volunteers and staff is strong.Successful Main Street programs take advantage of every opportunity. Volunteers and staff are resourceful, energetic, enthusiastic—they are not afraid to ask for help or guidance when they need it. They aren’t afraid to work hard. They’re willing to give of their time and talents. They are in it for the greater good, not just themselves. Successful Main Street programs also realize that historic preservation is a basis for the work that they do.
Associate Communities have benefitted from Main Street several ways—Some communities are happy to be connected to a state and national network of organizations and individuals doing the same work and undertaking the same projectsOther communities have specific needs—Bassett (Bassett Lodge and Range Café NR listing), McCook (design guidelines), Norfolk (parking issues), Schuyler (building redevelopment), Osceola (building redevelopment)
