The Main Street program was developed in 1980 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to save historic downtown architecture and revitalize historic downtown areas. Today, Main Street America, the statewide partners and local Main Street programs have all become powerful economic tools as well.
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 with revitalization and grows with them over time.
The Main Street Approach is centered around Transformation Strategies articulating a focused, deliberate path to revitalizing or strengthening a downtown or commercial district’s economy. Each Transformation Strategy is implemented through activities in the four broad areas of work represented by the Four Points: Economic Vitality, Design, Promotion, and Organization.