Montana Main Street Program
"Revitalizing Your Commercial District"
Farmers' Market, Butte Montana
Decades ago, downtown commercial districts served as the primary providers of goods and services to their communities. People shopped, ate, transacted business, and recreated downtown.
Then, starting in the 1960s, malls, strip malls, and big box stores began attracting more and more shoppers, until many downtowns withered. Their commercial cores now often suffer from a complicated cycle of disinvestment: with businesses leaving, rental rates slip and property owners have less to invest in their buildings, giving the district a shabby, uncared-for appearance and making it even harder to attract new businesses.
The Main Street program is an approach to revitalizing traditional business districts within the context of historic preservation. Developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the 1970s, the Main Street approach has succeeded in more than 1,000 communities nationwide. Together, these programs have produced an investment in these districts of more than $5 billion and spurred the rehabilitation of many historic structures, while providing space for 38,000 new businesses and creating 100,000 net new jobs for local citizens.
The underlying premise is to encourage economic development within the context of historic preservation. The Main Street approach encourages communities to use their unique assets--distinctive architecture, pedestrian friendly atmosphere, local ownership, and personal services--to rebuild their downtowns. To do so, Main Street focuses on four major areas: Organization, Promotion, Design, and Economic Restructuring, called the Four Point Approach™ .
