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When I was asked last fall to present a keynote address to the National Trust for Canada conference in Calgary, I was asked to focus on the economic value of preservation as a real estate development tool, in part because Calgary was an oil city more known for its glass towers than its old buildings.
In retrospect, it seems odd that in 2016 we would need to make the argument that historic preservation is a path to the future. There is scarcely a city in Europe or the Americas that has not seen an economic “boom” from its historic buildings, especially if those buildings are conserved in enough concentration to spark revitalization. From Denver’s LoDo and Seattle’s Pioneer Square to Manhattan’s SoHo and Chicago’s Printers’ Row, it seems every town has an historic district that has turned into an economic engine.
Still, there are those who cling to the half-century old idea that historic buildings are museums, restoration is expensive, and historic museums need subsidies because they are outside of our economic everyday. This concept fails three realities.
First, for nearly fifty years we have been repurposing thousands of buildings in economically viable ways, aided for the last forty years by investment tax credits. Second, this multibillion-dollar industry has created the infrastructure to restore and rehabilitate older buildings. Third, museums have transformed over the same time into productive, often profitable enterprises. There were no blockbuster exhibits in the 1960s and gift shops were quaint appendages, not number-crunching marketing machines.
But the myth persists, driven by the first argument. “Everyone knows” that preservation is expensive. Which it could be, in a vacuum, but the fact of the matter is that real estate is an asset whose value is entirely determined by externalities. Once you have a critical mass of historic buildings, you actually generate economic growth thanks to those externalities.
You start saving historic buildings in a city and there is a positive knock-on effect. Each one you save creates an externality that grants value to the next one. It is like dominoes falling UP rather than DOWN.
Photo: (c) Vincent L. Michael
Preservationists got to this party early. In stark contrast to the stereotype, preservationists were not focused solely on nostalgia and romantic ideas about history and architecture. Mary Means began the Main Street program in the 1970s at the National Trust’s Midwest office, recognizing not simply the value of the new tax credits, but the economic potential of harnessing externalities.
Means saw that commercial buildings were in danger because planner and developers did not see their future potential. It was a DIY effort, but more importantly, it was an effort that pushed beyond the boundaries of “historic preservation.”
The Main Street program had Four Points and only one of them–Design–was related to the traditional concerns of historic preservation. The other three were all about the base–the economic base, that is.
Organization. Main Streets needed to be coordinated through cooperative local agencies, not to compete with shopping malls, but to create a dynamic NEW product that was firing on all cylinders.
Events (now Promotion). Main Streets needed to promote their new product, arguably difficult in the heyday of the suburban shopping mall, but one that was already starting to work in tourist towns.
Economic Restructuring (now Economic Vitality). This was the most ambitious, most pragmatic and most brilliant of the Main Street Four Points. It recognized that Main Streets were economically viable products in the modern world but ONLY if they did not try to be what they were in the old world before the malls.
This was a stunning foresight by the preservation community. It was abject abandonment of all the nostalgic reasons we want to save things. We weren’t trying to preserve the past as past. We can save historic buildings only if they become something new. To survive, historic places must serve the future, so let’s focus 75% of our energy on that. And it worked. Everywhere. It worked so well that by the dawn of the 21st century shopping malls were stealing the Design piece from Main Street and creating ersatz Dodge City storefront malls, while old warehouse districts in every city from Leeds to Los Angeles had multiplied in value with lofts and shops and hipster cafes.
More importantly, the success of Main Street offered an alternative model to the economics of the mall and megastore, an alternative focused on local growth. The mall and megastore delighted Wall Street because they centralized–alienated–profits.
Main Street offered–and offers still–jobs that can’t be outsourced; resources from within; growth building on permanent, local fixtures not subject to the whim of a distant corporation. Money circulating in the local economy. There are other sustainable economic strategies, but heritage conservation has proven to be one of the best and longest-lasting.
Interestingly, while Main Street has become an effective tool for the economic revitalization of various small and medium-sized towns, its first iterations included neighborhoods in large cities, notably Chicago. Similar real estate economic realities exist in Baltimore and Boulder as in Natchitoches and Libertyville. You can see successful Main Streets in Washington, DC, Boston, Cleveland, Orland, and elsewhere.
And of course you can see those loft districts of revitalized buildings in nearly every city in the Western world (and many in the East). Main Street is a living legacy of the time when preservationists discovered the key to urban revitalization before the planners and developers.
Photo: (c) Vincent L. Michael
This economic approach to saving old buildings went on to spawn heritage areas in the 1980s, which added natural area conservation and recreation as goals, effectively subsuming much of the traditional urban and regional planning discipline.
But, still we have to make the argument. Thankfully, we have not only the tools to do so, but two generations of success to point to.
Read more of Vince Michael's work on his heritage conservation blog, Time Tells.
Vincent L. Michael, Ph.D. is a heritage manager, consultant and thought leader in the heritage field. He has worked in the field of heritage development, tourism planning, community planning, historic architecture, education and design in a wide variety of capacities and is a sought-after lecturer, tour guide and expert. Michael serves as a Trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Global Heritage Fund.
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In response, UrbanMain and Main Street Oakland County joined forces in March 2018 to assist Pontiac stakeholders in putting their downtown organization back on a positive track, making Pontiac the first community in Michigan to participate in the UrbanMain initiative.
2018 Partners in Preservation: Main Streets Winning Sites
American Express, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Main Street America announced the winners of the 2018 Partners in Preservation: Main Streets campaign.
2018 Community Transformation Workshop Recap
An essential component of the Main Street America Institute, the three-day in-person workshop gives participants hands-on tools to enact revitalization projects in their communities.
A Statewide Movement Improving West Virginia Main Streets
Since 2013, Try This West Virginia has sought to improve health environments in local communities as a collaboration of organizations working together to combat the health challenges facing West Virginians.
Community Spotlight: Main Street Hampton
Main Street Hampton hosted a Food and Friends Farm-to-Table dinner at the Rustic Brew during Main Street Iowa Restaurant Week.
Community Spotlight: Partners in Preservation 2018
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.
Community Spotlight: Ames, Iowa
Downtown Ames hosted a festival for the 46th annual RAGBRAI race (The Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa).
7 Ways To Bring Your Main Street On Screen
You don’t need to be a big-name district to make a video that goes viral; you just need to know what you’re doing.
Comcast Newsmakers: Revitalizing Downtown
Matt Wagner, National Main Street Center's Vice President of Revitalization Programs, discusses competitive advantages, incrementalism and the power of the Main Street America network
Community Spotlight: Main Street Homer, Louisiana
Main Street Homer (Homer, Louisiana) was awarded a $25,000 A Community Thrives social impact grant from Gannett/USA Today Network to create an arts center with affordable artist studios and classroom/event space.
Evolution, Acceptance, and Change: The Main Street Approach as a Catalyst for Revitalization
Nearly slated for demolition 30 years ago, downtown Cedar Falls has experienced an amazing transformation through its revitalization journey using the Main Street Approach.
Main Street Roots Run Deep in Downtown Wytheville
Since starting as Executive Director, Todd has helped the organization achieve Virginia Main Street Designation Status and national Accreditation.
Announcing the 2018 Great American Main Street Award Winners
The National Main Street Center, Inc., announced Downtown Oregon City, Rock Springs Main Street/Urban Renewal Agency, and Howell Main Street as the 2018 Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) winners during its annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri.
Main Streets in Action
We rolled out four new Main Street America videos highlighting the power of the Main Street movement, Main Street Approach, economic impact of Main Street, and the incredible volunteers that make Main Street's grassroots network so effective.
Community Spotlight: Ridgefield Main Street
Ridgefield Main Street is an energetic, up-and-coming Washington Main Street program located just north of Vancouver, Washington.
Want to do something big? Start small.
A series of small, incremental improvements, when taken together, provide momentum for long-term economic transformation and improved quality of life in a community.
Michigan Main Street Refresh Implementation: The Refresh from Our Communities’ Perspective
Here's a bit of background on each of the communities. Read on for the Refresh Implementation Q&A.
Announcing the 2017 Great American Main Street Award Winners
The National Main Street Center, Inc. announced the 2017 Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) during its annual conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Reality of Main Street — Letter from the President
The National Main Street Center and the Brookings Institution have jointly authored a response to Mr. Hyman’s piece, The Reality of Main Street, that is featured on Brookings’ blog.
Michigan Main Street Refresh Implementation: Our Process and Lessons Learned So Far
Michigan Main Street Center was the first Coordinating Program to implement the new Main Street approach on a large scale. In this article, they share their robust process and valuable lessons.
The Reality of Main Street
There is another way for smaller communities to compete in today’s economy and we believe a strong main street strategy is at the heart of it.
The Myth of Main Street? Letter from the President
Letter from past MSA President, Patrice Frey
The Lowdown in Downtown LaBelle
Fritz the dog has made his way into the hearts of the residents of LaBelle, Florida, and helped our Main Street Community find a way to make what we do more noticeable.
Strategic Planning Through Transformation Strategies – Saline, Michigan
Back in October 2015, we introduced the three key components of the refreshed Main Street Approach: inputs, outputs and Community Transformation Strategies.
Revitalization and Main Street Transformation
For a lucky few downtowns, greatness may happen effortlessly with a strong sense of place that seems to develop organically and simply sustain itself. For most places, success doesn’t happen by chance.
Revisit Your Community’s Unique Assets: Connecting Asset-Based Economic Development to Community Transformation Strategies
This need for change results from the heavy emphasis on three components of the refreshed Main Street Approach.
The 2016 Great American Main Street Award Winners
The 2016 winners are a diverse group in geography and character, but together demonstrate the broad applicability of the Main Street Approach:
Main Street Nation Radio
The first official show under the Main Street Nation banner aired in June 2015 on WJR-760 AM Detroit.
Refresh Demonstration Project Sites: Learning Labs for the Updated Main Street Approach
A series of demonstration projects providing the opportunity to test new strategies on the ground, learn from practitioners, and refine the approach.
Why Business Retention and Expansion Plans are Important for Downtowns
A business retention and expansion plan, properly implemented, not only helps keep businesses open but possibly even helps them expand.
Wisconsin Main Street: 27 Years of People, Places and Progress
While there have been over $1.2 billion in public and private investment in Wisconsin Main Street communities over the past 27 years, what really makes it special are the people and places that have been involved.
Pop-Up Art Tour
Main Street Bartow's empty storefronts become pop-up art galleries to promote economic development.
A Walk Through Rehoboth Beach Main Street
Although a “beach town,” Rehoboth Beach is open 365 days a year, and with that has the unique challenge of catering to both year-round residents and tourists within a wide range of ages, interests and economic levels
Independent We Stand Makes Main Streets a Priority
In communities across the country, hardworking business owners and buy local advocates come together to foster an organized effort to reinvent and revitalize Main Streets and downtown districts.
Announcing the 2015 Great American Main Street Award Winners
The National Main Street Center is pleased to announce that Cape Girardeau, Mo., Montclair Center, N.J., and Rawlins, Wyo. were selected as the 2015 Great American Main Street Award® (GAMSA) winners.
