Announcing the Science Discovery on Main Street Grant Recipients
Main Street America is thrilled to announce the 12 Science Discovery on Main Street grant program recipients.
Join us for three days of learning, connecting, and celebrating at Main Street Now 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 7 – 9.
Secure Your Spot!In honor of National Preparedness Month, Main Street America’s National Park Service Main Street Community Disaster Preparedness and Resilience Program has been working with their partners and local community leaders to host Takeovers on MSA’s social channels. This week, we welcomed National Association For Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) to our Twitter channel (@NatlMainStreet).
The National Association For Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) leads a national network of more than 130 mission-driven organizations in 40 states, DC and Puerto Rico that are anchor institutions in geographically and ethnically diverse Latino communities. The NPS Main Street Community Disaster Preparedness and Resilience Program is fortunate to have Jake White, Senior Program Manager and leader of NALCAB’s Equitable Neighborhood Development team, as part of the Program’s Advisory Committee. You may have seen Jake at the 2021 Main Street Now workshop, Disaster Preparedness Roadmap: Building Main Street Resilience, where he co-led the closing plenary. During his speech, he synthesized the material from the day and shared inspiring examples of preparedness and resilience strategies for downtown local leaders to use in their communities.
Throughout their Takeover, NALCAB highlighted how their members and communities engage in disaster preparedness & climate support. Read more about their Takeover below, and be sure to check out their work on our Twitter channel!
Avenue CDC
NALCAB member Avenue CDC recognizes the impacts of disaster preparedness and climate support. As a builder seeking to develop quality affordable housing, they have built innovative partnerships to develop reduced-cost modular housing with flooding safeguards, and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) with net zero energy consumption. Learn more.
Franklin Neighborhood Development Corporation
Located in the Latino heart of Sacramento county, the Franklin corridor lacks trees, green space, and shade that can help reduce air pollution and heat. NALCAB member Franklin Neighborhood Development Corporation’s Community Climate & Revitalization Playbook highlights strategies and goals for a climate-resilient community, from multi-modal Complete Streets, to stormwater management and tree installations. Learn more about it.
Carolina Small Business Development Fund
Disasters not only impact housing and people, but also small businesses. NALCAB member and CDFI, Carolina Small Business Development Fund has created a tool for small business owners to be able to respond with resources for immediate & long-term recovery when natural disasters like hurricanes, floods and tornados strike. Learn more.
We are grateful for NALCAB's involvement in the NPS Main Street Disaster Preparedness and Resilience Program and our celebration of Preparedness Month!
Main Street America is thrilled to announce the 12 Science Discovery on Main Street grant program recipients.
Learn how to leverage the Main Street Approach during natural disaster recovery.
Creating real change in business ownership starts with local communities leading the way, backed by strong partnerships and collaborations.
Learn how Main Street America's work with the DOT's Thriving Communities Program is supporting transformative efforts with community partners like the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe.
Becky Axilbund, Executive Director at Main Street Middletown, MD Inc., shares lessons learned from their renovation of two downtown buildings.
For Preservation Month, Senior Program Officer Lisa Mullins Thompson explores why preservation matters and how Main Streets can celebrate and protect their historic assets.
Nevada, Iowa © Main Street America
At Fort Vancouver in Vancouver, Washington, Native Hawaiians played a critical role in the success of the Hudson Bay Company. Today, Vancouver’s Hawaiian history and heritage plays a crucial role in efforts to reenergize the city’s historic downtown.
Understanding the Advisory Council on Historic Preservations report on federal historic preservation standards.
Toccoa, GA © Steph Maley
In this video, learn more about the Williams’ family story, how the business is helping to revive downtown Helena, and the impact they’re having on a national level.
Learn how Albany, Georgia, recognizes their civil rights legacy and supports the African American community today.
Kathy LaPlante shares her experiences visiting Vermont communities during their recovery from devastating floods.
© Tripp Muldrow
In honor of National Disaster Preparedness Month, we are providing some practical steps that Main Streets can take to prepare for the next, inevitable disaster.
© Adog
Learn the historic and cultural significance of neon signs, and strategies that Main Streets can use to preserve these unique assets.
Main Street America is leading a coalition urging that the EPA make available the GGRF funds for adaptive reuse and location-efficient projects because of the substantial greenhouse gas emissions reduction offered by such developments.
On May 9, the National Trust for Historic Preservation released its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2023 which included a cultural district located within a designated Main Street America community.
Miami, FL © NTHP
From 19th-century mill girls to Maine's mill redevelopments and the regional manufacturers of tomorrow, learn about the amazing history and promise of the New England mill.
Biddeford, ME © Heart of Biddeford
Learn the unique history of Folsom, New Mexico, and how they are working with New Mexico MainStreet today.
This article was published on January 10, 2023, by Next City, a nonprofit news organization focused on socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable urban practices.
Learn how Rethos, the Coordinating partner for Minnesota Main Streets, has partnered with Reuse Minnesota and the Minnesota GreenCorps Program to encourage community-led preservation.
© Rethos
Four recommendations that Main Street districts can apply right now to start preparing for the next natural disaster.
Learn how Main Streets can partner with the National Trust Community Investment Corporation to take advantage of the Historic Tax Credit.
© Troy Thies
Ed McMahon shares recommendations and insights on how Main Streets can use sign design to improve sense of place on Main Streets.
Main Street organizations and other public-private partnerships can provide the focal point needed to fulfill the large number of roles required to reuse or redevelop a house of worship in a way that benefits the community.
Learn about The Bottom, a historic African-American community in Thomasville, Georgia, and efforts to preserve it's history and share it's story.
Thomasville, GA © City of Thomasville
New Mexico MainStreet partnered with Main Street America to utilize a NPS Main Street Facade Improvement Grant.
Gallup, NM © New Mexico MainStreet
How do those amazing Main Street rehabilitation projects happen? And what policies and public support make them happen? In the Behind the Ribbon Cutting series, we look at a project or businesses from concept to opening day to break down the partnerships and funding brought to bear and recognize how we can advocate for policies and resources for revitalization across the country.
Astoria, OR © ADHDA
Main Street America's GIS intern shares the results of a project to map the boundaries of all designated Main Street districts.
Main Street America welcomed to our Instagram Stories the Allapattah Collaborative CDC, a Main Street program in Miami, Florida.
Miami, FL © Allapattah Collaborative CDC
We sat down with Lindsey Wallace, Director of Strategic Projects and Design Services and manager of the the National Park Service Main Street Community Disaster Preparedness and Resilience Program, to learn more about her perspective on disaster preparedness on Main Street.
To support Georgia Main Streets throughout the recovery process and position them for long-term sustainability, Main Street America launched the Georgia Main Street Innovation Grant Program, made possible through generous support from The Williams Family Foundation of Georgia.
Thomasville, GA © Thomasville Main Street
The Association for Preservation Technology International (APT) Main Street Task Force is working to increase education, compile examples and data, and provide recommended changes at the national level where necessary.
From community gathering spaces to retail incubators, from small towns to big cities – this year’s projects and communities are a testament to the diversity of Main Streets across the country.
The Main Street America Institute (MSAI) partnered with the National Development Council (NDC) to offer Historic Real Estate Finance, part one of a two-course certificate program, in Des Moines, Iowa.
Texas First Lady Cecilia Abbott joined Texas Main Street and Texas Historical Commission staff, management and Commissioners to welcome Temple and Pearsall into the 89-city Texas Main Street network.
As part of the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta’s Grants to Green program, Maine was designated one of two national replication sites.
After more than five years of consistent advocacy, the 20 percent historic tax credit (HTC) has survived the most significant rewrite of the tax code in more than 30 years.
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Main Street merchants in two communities in Michigan and Kentucky, as well as a fellow Texas Main Street community, jumped in to help their Texas colleagues.
In the midst of this human and cultural disaster, the Main Street program, managed by the Ellicott City Partnership, collaborated with Preservation Maryland to provide a variety of disaster relief financing that helped expedite the recovery.
In 2016, the North Carolina Main Street & Rural Planning Center partnered with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Department of Interior Architecture (UNCG) to provide design assistance to Main Street communities.
In 2015, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) partnered with the University of Wisconsin–Madison to engage Wisconsin Main Street organizations and farmers markets in the Metrics and Indicators for Impact – Farmers Markets (MIFI-FM) toolkit.
With 413 National Park areas¹ and over 1,000 Main Street America programs, it’s no surprise that many of the communities following the Four Point Approach serve as gateways to our national parks.
Eight historic downtowns in Vermont turned massive flooding into opportunities to build back stronger than before the flood.
As living pieces of American history, our Main Street communities each have a story to tell. It’s up to us to bring those stories to life.
We measure the effectiveness of our last marketing campaign, weigh whether the investment in new street lights outweigh the political capital spent, and debate if the thousands of volunteer hours are worth the impacts created by a one-day event.
Main Street Iowa, a program of the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Iowa Downtown Resource Center, created a one-of-a-kind three-year program to provide help for performance venues located in Main Street districts.