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Revitalization |
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About Historic Downtown Snohomish Organization | Promotion | Design | Economic Restructuring | Staff | Board
Organization involves getting everyone working toward the same goal and assembling the appropriate human and financial resources to implement a Main Street revitalization program. A governing board and standing committees make up the fundamental organizational structure of the volunteer-driven program. Volunteers are coordinated and supported by a paid program director as well. This structure not only divides the workload and clearly delineates responsibilities, but also builds consensus and cooperation among the various stakeholders. View the 2005 Annual Report. Economic Restructuring strengthens a community's existing economic assets while expanding and diversifying its economic base. The Main Street program helps sharpen the competitiveness of existing business owners and recruits compatible new businesses and new economic uses to build a commercial district that responds to today's consumers' needs. Converting unused or underused commercial space into economically productive property also helps boost the profitability of the district. Why is downtown important? Downtowns play a major role as a business district as they are usually the largest concentration of businesses in a community. Downtown represents a significant portion of your community's tax base. If this district prospers, its property will increase in value and sales tax revenue will increase. This eases the tax burden on other parts of your community and increases services to the entire community. Healthy downtowns even protect the property values of surrounding residential neighborhoods. The downtown business district is a prominent employment center. Even the smallest downtowns employ hundreds of people. Downtown is often the largest "employer" in your community. Historic buildings often provide less expensive rent, providing opportunities for local entrepreneurs to try out ventures and family–owned independent businesses to locate. These businesses keep profits in town, are more likely to be involved in the community, and feel an obligation to the community to provide quality service and products. Downtowns were designed to use space and community resources wisely. Downtown is the heart and soul of a community and as such is a reflection of the entire community and its citizens. Businesses, potential employers, and investors factor in the vitality of a downtown when making decisions about locating to a city whether they will potentially be located in the downtown core or not. The side walks and streets downtown are public space where the community can hold special events, celebrations, and parades or more informally congregate, walk, and entertain themselves. The pedestrian scaled environment, including safe and more attractive walkways, the character of the buildings and the history they portray, the location, selection of businesses and unique products, and events held downtown make downtown unique. Most importantly, downtown provides a sense of community and place. It is part of your identity. As Carol Lifkind, author of Main Street: The Face of Urban America said, "… as Main Street, it was uniquely America, a powerful symbol of shared experience, of common memory, of the challenge and the struggle of building a civilization. . .Main Street was always familiar, always recognizable as the heart and soul of village, town or city." In the end, this is why we revitalize our downtowns. Staff: Other Main Street Links Newsletter Click here. |
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What is the Main Street 4 Point Approach?