About the Main Street Program


Main Street is a Movement


For more than 35 years, Main Street America has been helping to revitalize older and historic commercial districts. Over 2,000 communities across the country have been helped bring economic vitality back downtown, while celebrating their historic character, and bringing communities together. Made up of small towns, mid-sized communities, and urban commercial districts, Main Street America represents the broad diversity that makes this country so unique. 

Collectively, the Main Street Movement is the leading voice for preservation-based economic development and community revitalization across the country.

The Main Street Approach

The Main Street Approach is a time-tested framework for community-driven comprehensive revitalization. 
Every community and commercial district is different, with its own distinctive assets and sense of place. The Main Street Approach offers community-based revitalization initiatives with a practical, adaptable framework for downtown transformation that is easily tailored to local conditions. The Main Street Approach helps communities get started revitalization, and grows with them over time.  

Main Street Fundamentals

  • The Main Street Approach is centered around Transformation Strategies. A Transformation Strategy articulates a focused, deliberate path to revitalizing or strengthening a downtown or commercial district's economy.
  • A program's work on Transformation Strategies should be organized around the Four Points: Economic Vitality, Design, Promotion, and Organization.
  • A revitalization program's work - and its Transformation Strategies -  need to be informed by a solid understanding of local and regional market data, and sustained and inclusive community engagement.
Transformation Strategies are implemented through comprehensive work in four broad areas, known as the FOUR POINTS. 

ECONOMIC VITALITY
 focuses on capital, incentives, and other economic and financial tools to assist new and existing businesses, catalyze property development, and create a supportive environment for entrepreneurs and innovators that drive local economies. 

DESIGN supports a community's transformation by enhancing the physical and visual assets, including historic buildings, that set the commercial district apart. 

PROMOTION positions the downtown or commercial district as the center of the community and hub of economic activity, while creating a positive image that showcases a community's unique characteristics. 

ORGANIZATION involves creating a strong foundation for a sustainable revitalization effort, including cultivating partnerships, community involvement, and resources for the district. 

BENEFITS


Overview

The health of our downtown is at the very heart of the quality of life in our community. A prosperous, attractive downtown business district becomes a visible barometer for the well-being of the entire community. The Program includes many benefits. The Main Street program:

Protects the Existing Tax Base

The Evanston Main Street program protects and enhances the significant private investment in our banks, businesses, and commercial property by keeping the area viable with sustained property values. The public investment in streets, sidewalks, and water and sewer lines is also protected and enhanced through the program.

Serves as an Incubator for New Business

A viable downtown offers opportunities and incentives for the new Evanston entrepreneur. They may benefit from lower rents, low-interest loans, infrastructure improvements, and technical assistance.

Attracts Economic Development

Downtown Evanston reflects the overall image we project to potential investors. An invigorated downtown makes a positive statement about our whole community. We can offer a quality of life many business owners look for when relocating or enlarging an operation.

Provides a Point of Focus & Stability

A vibrant downtown gives Evanston and Uinta County a sense of pride and positive self-image. It serves as an anchor for the community providing stability necessary for economic growth.

Preserves the Historical Fabric of the Community

In a healthy downtown, property owners are more willing to invest in and maintain historic commercial buildings, thereby preserving an important part of the community’s and Wyoming’s heritage. Private property owners are influenced by the success and beauty of the preserved public properties located in our Main Street district.

Improves Economic Conditions Downtown

A healthy downtown attracts new businesses, creates jobs, and strengthens the existing service and retail markets. By diversifying the business mix, dollars that would be spent elsewhere are spent locally. Downtown Evanston, with its unique historic character, will benefit from the national movement to get away from the big box and mall experience and to shop and live in locations with character and hometown charm.
We look forward to your next visit with us!

See you soon!