The two most successful preservation initiatives in Texas are the Main Street Program (TMSP) and the Historic Courthouse Preservation Program (THCPP). A downtown revitalization strategy and grant fund program respectively, the initiatives are structurally different. However, they inevitably affect the same communities. The two organizations have never combined forces to achieve their goals, but the potential to integrate efforts could lead to reviving many more Texas communities. This study investigates the question: how can the TMSP and THCPP coordinate to create stronger preservation efforts in counties across the state? The program processes were analyzed to better understand the mechanisms used to carry out each initiative at the state and local level. Then, twelve case study cities were evaluated in order to understand the interactions at the local level. Interviews with program professionals, occupancy surveys, and reinvestment statistics were used to discern these effects. Through the interventions of both programs, all twelve cities have seen a decrease in vacancy ratings and an increase in rehabilitation projects. However, no Main Street program had any input into their local courthouse restoration. Alternatively, the courthouse restoration boosts local pride and ownership in the surrounding community, but these results are just “snow ball” effects; the restoration does not consider its impact on the greater community. The investigation also shows that rural communities rely more on the courthouse square to function as a traditional county seat, while suburban communities are transitioning their courthouses into new uses. Coordinating the TMSP and THCPP initiatives and creating preservation efforts at the county level could result in the successful revitalization of more rural communities across Texas, who could not achieve it on their own. / text

One of the most notably successful historic preservation tools is the National Main Street Center’s Four-Point Approach™, which focuses on using design, economic restructuring, promotion, and organization to achieve its goals of preservation-based economic revitalization in cities across America. The Main Street Program’s approach has been broadly designed to accommodate the unique combination of factors that differ from city to city. Three of Texas’s twenty recertified Main Street cities were studied in order to answer the question: In recertified Main Street cities, what are the impacts within a historic downtown district after a community leaves the program and what factors encourage their return? This study examines the effects participation in the program has had on the downtown historic districts of Brenham, Gainesville, and Kilgore. The act of joining, leaving, and rejoining the program provides an opportunity for internal comparisons within these communities over time. Interviews and archival research were used to determine the reasons each selected recertified city left and returned to the program, and identified current problems that could threaten the program’s continued success. Despite some differing circumstances, these case studies suggest that the basic reasons both for leaving the program and later returning were strikingly similar: economic hardships in the cities eliminated support for the projects, causing them to end participation, while continued struggles with downtown vacancy rates and high business turnover sparked interest in rejoining. These communities realized the worth of the Main Street program’s structure and network in the success of revitalizing their downtown historic districts. The flexibility of the program’s framework allows for each participating city to tailor the approach to meet their specific needs and highlight their unique character. While the methods of implementation differ, many of the ongoing problems are the same. Recertified cities represent only a quarter of the cities currently participating in the Texas Main Street Program, but the lessons learned are potentially valuable to all Main Street communities as they face challenges in revitalizing their downtown districts and encourage the longevity of their own programs. / text

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No description available.

ABSTRACT Downtown Revitalization Strategy Report for Glenrock, WY Mary E. Phillips The following project submitted for the Master of City and Regional Planning Professional Project is the Downtown Revitalization Strategy Report for Glenrock, WY completed November 25, 2009. At the onset of the project, the Town of Glenrock, WY was recognized as an Aspiring Main Street Community, and sought guidance to become a Certified Main Street Community. This Strategy Report was prepared to provide an implementation plan for revitalization of the downtown following the Main Street Approach, as well as for achievement of a Certified Main Street Community status by the year 2014. The project included an interactive process, directly involving key representatives and stakeholders in the community. This included a public workshop and on-site strategy sessions with Town staff and the Glenrock Downtown Development Committee. The Strategy Report includes a basic assessment of existing conditions in downtown Glenrock based on information gathered at these meetings. From this initial assessment, issues, goals and objectives for downtown were identified. An overall strategy was then developed, in accordance with the Main Street Approach, which outlines the plan of action for the downtown revitalization and Main Street certification. The implementation section of the plan then takes the identified actions and prioritizes them based on a 5-year implementation schedule. The development and prioritization of these actions was based on the following factors: Requirements for the Wyoming Main Street Community certification status Community goals for development in the downtown Feasibility of implementation of plan components Access to resources (of all types) for implementation Players in the implementation of the plan The result of this methodology was a plan that addressed the community’s needs, with an implementation program specifically tailored for the community’s available resources.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-89). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-89). Also available on the Internet.

Two entities, town and university, each playing different functional roles, different in scale and structure, come together at one point. The architecture of that point is a transitional condition. Each element has integrity on its own, and at the same time is a part of the system. The primary requirement for the architecture of this place is to be elegant and thoughtful. This idea is addressed in five scales within the project: the axis, the street, the paths, the wall, and the room. / Master of Architecture

Considering revitalization as a way of improving three interrelated aspects of quality of life including physical quality, social and economic welfare, this study sets out an evaluation framework to measure the success of implementations aiming to revitalize historic commercial places. This framework emerges from the qualities of built environments which are defined with reference to the normative urban design theory developed by Kevin Lynch. Urban qualities are defined with a comprehensive approach which takes into account spatial, social, and economic aspects of creating urban places. The Main Street Program, subject of this study, is a historic commercial district revitalization program developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States. This program introduces a preservation-based revitalization model. Based on a comprehensive approach, the program suggests working simultaneously on organization, design, economic restructuring, and promotion. This study analyzes the revitalization model of the Main Street Program by looking at its various aspects including organization models, funding tools, involvement of local communities, contributions of the federal and local governments, implementation, and self-evaluation. Besides, it introduces a citywide coordinating program, Boston Main Streets. Finally, it analyzes the revitalization of Washington Street in South End, Boston, one of the places where Main Street Program has been implemented. The street has been transformed from a vacant and deteriorated commercial street into a more vital, pedestrian oriented, mixed use place in a decade. This study aims to analyze the case from three different points. First, the success of the program is evaluated within the above framework. Second, the effectiveness of the program is examined through an outcome analysis. Finally, the organizational performance of the Main Street organization is analyzed.

The relationship between urban design and economic activity is seldom studied through empirical studies with a large number of cases due, in part, to the implicit and intangible nature of design. This study was intended to understand, analyze, and evaluate the complex relationship between the design and the economic revitalization of downtown districts with reference to the 78 active Texas Main Street Program districts. First, the design, promotion, organization, and economic restructuring components of the Main Street Program's comprehensive four-point approach were investigated. Next, the economic changes that occurred within those districts were analyzed from 1997-2001. Finally, employment, the number of jobs, the number of business establishments, the number of sales tax permits, the retail sales volume, and the commercial property values were compared for the same time period among three categories of cities: those active in the Main Street Program, those formerly active but now inactive, and those who have not participated. Findings revealed that several positive changes occurred in design, promotion, organization, and economic restructuring components of the four-point approach within the active Texas Main Street districts. It appears that these changes produced several positive outcomes for the physical, social, and economical environment of the active Main Street districts. Moreover, the findings suggests that these changes in the Main Street districts resulted in an increased economic activity, not only within the Main Street district by generating jobs, or producing private and/or public investment, but also across the Main Street city by creating community wide economic activity in most of the variables that were under investigation. The results indicate that the Texas Main Street Program, part of which is urban design oriented, is having a positive effect on economic activity within the active Main Street districts.