Early on, we headed to southwestern Vermont to visit my college roommate and his family.    On the way back, we stopped for lunch in Chester, VT.  It’s a town of a little over 3,000 residents, located in ski country.  Recreation appears to be very important to the economy, however, they’ve also created a small commercial cluster of shops, restaurants, and galleries through adaptive reuse of residential structures along the village green.   We had a some great vegetarian dishes at the Moon Dog Cafe.

In the middle of our stay, we traveled to Portland, ME to see the Winslow Homer exhibit…my Dad is a huge fan.  Portland is Maine’s largest city with over 60,000 residents and has a history that goes back to the early 1600s.  The Portland Museum of Art is part of the city’s Arts District, and we admired the galleries, theaters, college of art, public sculpture, and public parking lots and structures in the neighborhood.  There were also many restaurants, coffee shops, offices, and some retail.  Note the slogan on the sign: “love. downtown. more.”   I noticed what seemed to be a particularly high percentage of people that were under, let’s say, 40.  We had some delicious vegetarian food at Pom’s Thai Restaurant and Noodle House.

Finally, we made our typical pilgrimage to the beach at Wallis Sands and Portsmouth, NH.  The city has a population of just a little over 20,000 but seems much bigger due to the density that is typical in New England.  It is a working seaport and popular summer destination and is the “big city” for the New Hampshire lakes region.  It is a particularly vibrant mix of entertainment and retail with what seems to be to be unusually strong representation in both categories.  They have an awesome public parking structure tucked behind the historic buildings on several blocks and seem to be a making investments in public sculpture.  I had an excellent  haddock sandwich and a fine glass of ale at the Portsmouth Brewery.

It was great fun to visit some other downtowns and enjoy their varied offerings.  If there was one thing that struck me about all of them, it was that each worked to build on their particular assets and characteristics to successfully attract visitors, residents, and businesses.

The location for the announcement was chosen for two reasons.  First, the theater is called the “Main Street”, its marquee was the basis for the Minnesota Main Street Program’s new logo, and, let’s face it, it’ll be a way cool backdrop for the photo op.  Second, and far more importantly, Sauk Centre is the setting of Minnesota writer Sinclair Lewis’ novel “Main Street”, which offers a cultural call-out to those often literary-minded historic preservation types.

As I mentioned in a recent post, the NDDC (based from birth on the Main Street Program) has high hopes for the revival of the state program.  With the many economic challenges threatening our historic commercial centers throughout Greater Minnesota, the program (which was created by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1977) returns at a critical time.

The announcement includes presentations from Bonnie McDonald of the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota, Bill Morgan of St. Cloud State University, and Britta Bloomberg of the Minnesota Historical Society.  Bob Douvier, owner of the Main Street Theatre, has graciously scheduled a free screening of “Elmer Gantry” at 6:00 p.m.

For more information, contact Emily Northey, Minnesota Main Street Program Coordinator at enorthey@mnpreservation.org.

Their purpose was to share ideas for strengthening our downtowns and working together to return the Main Street Program to Minnesota. Eighteen people from eight different communities reviewed the Four Point Approach, offered lessons learned from their own experiences, and brain-stormed additional tactics for familiar challenges.

The Main Street Program was created by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1977. In Minnesota, the program was originally supported by DTED but was phased out in 1994. Minnesota is one of only four states that do not have a state-supported Main Street Program.

When the program was ended in Minnesota, six communities, Montgomery, Belle Plain, Pine Island, International Falls, Renville, and Wilmar, worked together to keep the network alive. Their efforts resulted in the formation of Hometown Minnesota, which produced yesterday’s event.

As I noted in a previous post, the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota is working to restore the Main Street Program to Minnesota. As part of yesterday’s gathering, the attendees were encouraged to discuss the program with their legislators.

Even if the program isn’t restored in this legislative session, the gathering was a boost to the attendees’ on-going efforts in their communities. We believe that “successful downtowns make successful communities”.

When the NDDC was created in 1999, it was based on the Main Street Approach. As one of the founders, Brett Reese, always says, “great downtowns don’t just happen”.

As some of you know, the Main Street Program was started by the National Trust for Historic Preservation back in 1977. The program emphasizes Four Points: Organizing, Promoting, Designing, and Restructuring. The NDDC has followed this approach from its founding in 1999.

Since the program’s inception, 43 states have launched state-wide Main Street Programs. In 1983, Minnesota joined the Main Street Network. However, by 1995, state support for the Minnesota Main Street Program ended.

A group organized by the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota is working to restore the Main Street Program to Minnesota. Seated from left to right are Tom Balcom of Mill City History Associates, Royce Yeater of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Bonnie McDonald of the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota, and Tim Griffin of the St. Paul Riverfront Development Corporation. Other individuals from around the state participated through a conference call.

In my discussions with peers from around the country at the annual Main Street Conference, I’ve seen how a state-wide program can help support our older commercial districts. I’m pleased to be part of these efforts in Minnesota.

The theme for this year’s version is Web 2.0. There are a number of sessions discussing getting more economic leverage from web-based tools. However, I thought I’d start off with a little old school action: Economic Restructuring.

The presenter, Elise Tinsley, outlined three goals for your organization’s “E R Committee”: 1) identify new market opportunities, 2) support existing businesses, and 3) stimulate development investment. Her points struck me as potential guiding principles for any group pursuing economic vitality in Northfield.

Elise said that you attract customers by communicating your community’s image honestly and accurately. Your message must be built on your existing assets, not your envisioned assets. Every community is different and its message should be unique. Perhaps most importantly, your image must be deliverable.

She then talked about gathering market data…and verifying that data. But more on that topic later.

Elise suggested that once you know your community and its assets, as well as your current market and your potential market, you should capture it in a simple and straight-forward Market Position Statement. You position your community within your wider trade area by using this statement to brand, assist and recruit your mix of businesses.

Your statement helps to focus your community’s efforts and helps to draw people to your community. If you’ve accurately captured your assets in your statement, when people visit your community, their experience will match your message.

Over 400 people involved in community economic development from around the region attended. As you can imagine, we live in exciting times, particularly those of us involved in community economic development.

LISC Executive Director Andriana Abariotes welcomed us. She recognized that we faced new challenges.

Then former St. Paul Mayor George Latimer led a panel discussion with leaders from the The McKnight Foundation, Travelers Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota, and the Northwest Area Foundation. While the panelists acknowledged the stock market decline adversely impacted their resources, all of the panelists, encouraged by Latimer, said that there were new opportunities for collaborative efforts between the public and private sectors.

During the break, I was able to connect with several of the people I had sought, including Ron Price, Senior Program Officer (and retail specialist) at LISC. He guided me to several excellent on-line resources which I am continuing to explore.

At lunch, I sat at a table full of bankers and equity investors. They all agreed that there was still money out there, that the underwriting requirements, at least for affordable housing, were still shaped largely by the state, and that the biggest change was a “flight to quality”, meaning higher returns and/or more reliable cash flow for financial participants.

Julie Causey, Chair of Western Bank, Michael Rubinger, President and CEO of LISC, Dan Bartholomay, Commissioner of the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, and Elizabeth Kautz, Mayor of Burnsville, spoke during lunch. All were anticipating roles for the private sector in the economic development efforts initiated by the public sector in the coming months.

During the afternoon, I attended a session on “Community Development’s Return on Investment”. The speakers were Paul Fate, President and CEO of CommonBond Communities, Peter Heegaard, Founder and Director of Urban Adventure, and Mike Temali, Executive Director of the Neighborhood Development Center. All of the speakers seemed to indicate that neighborhoods were now being reviewed much like businesses, as a single entity that generates jobs, sales, and tax revenues.

The themes emphasized by the speakers during the conference included: 1. Collaboration, 2. Holism, 3. Community Engagement, and 4. Regional Integration. They are not unfamiliar to many of us in community economic development in Northfield.

Personally, I thought other concepts were strongly represented in the sessions. In my mind these were: 1. Grow Existing Assets, 2. Produce Local Results, 3. Clarify the Specifications of Success, and, in the current environment, 4. Cut Through the Noise, Fear, and Uncertainty when Making Decisions.

It was a great opportunity to renew old friendships, interact with peers and share successful models. I anticipate generating returns on this “investment” as part of the NDDC’s work plan for 2009.

“When we first moved to Stillwater, it still felt like a real place. It had a downtown with a hardware store, a clothing store…Now it’s all gift shops and these terrible condominiums.” “It was a little town with a great deal of character. Everything gets yuppified, I guess”.

It’s hard for real downtowns, symbolized by the presence of a hardware store and clothing store, to survive with the Wal-Marts and Lowe’s out on the highway. The gift shops are intended to serve the desired visitors and the condos are hoped to add population density to support the traditional retail. Towns try to add the promising without sacrificing the valued.

Jessica and her husband Sam Shepard lived in Stillwater for nine years. They raised three children in a house on North 4th Street.

“By the end of the year we expect to have at least one new multi-use downtown building project underway,” he said, “the building will follow the Lakefront Plaza and Rock Creek template as a quality multi-story and multi-use structure”.

I really appreciated the fact that the mayor of Prior Lake was highlighting a downtown in-fill or redevelopment project in his State of the City address. His appreciation for a traditional style of commercial development warmed my heart. We are fortunate in Northfield to have a solid base of multi-story and multi-use buildings. Encouraging such in-fill or redevelopment projects, with traditional design elements, would be a great use of our leaders’ social capital.

Even more heartening were his many statements about downtown parking. “We understand that we must create more parking, and soon. You can anticipate that in 2008 that additional parking will be created on city-owned property”, he said. I’d love to hear those words from our mayor or either of the downtown Councilors. Both the 3rd and Washington and 5th and Washington municipal parking lots could be turned into parking structures, as recommended by the, was it, 2000 Walker Parking Study. Taking advantage of the topography to create two-levels of parking, requiring no sacrifice of parking spaces for internal circulation, would be a great way to get more economic leverage from our existing assets.

According to the Strib, a complete text of the mayor’s speech and the slide show that accompanied it can be found at www.cityofpriorlake.com/mayors_columns.shtml. It’s worth a look.

The town, at a little over 9,000 residents, is about half the size of Northfield. However, in spite of its relatively modest population, it has a visibly vital downtown. No doubt part of this vitality is due to Grinnell College, located at the north end of downtown.

As I mentioned in the post on their downtown library, the town has an interesting mix of retail offerings, many of which are familiar to us in Northfield. However, they’ve got something that we don’t have here…

…a downtown movie theater.

As I headed to my car after dinner, to drive to the motel out on the highway (there’s no Archer House in Grinnell), a large group of college students walked by, heading to…

…the downtown movie theater.

They could use non-motorized transportation, it was just a few blocks away.

A downtown movie theater…

…what a great idea!

The article that Phil recommended to me was about the growth of the area’s creative economy. The steadily increasing number of studios, including many focusing on the carving of granite, appears to be fostering other economic development.

One of the small towns undergoing a renaissance is Barre, Vermont. Young entrepreneurs have opened new restaurants, a brewery, a coffee shop, and a bakery in town. Although some people are concerned about gentrification, Sue Higby, director of Barre’s Studio Place Arts, calls it “downtownification”.

“Downtowns are places where you can leave your car, stroll around and really enjoy a diverse selection of small businesses”, Higby offers. She goes on to identify what she calls Barre’s core businesses, “We have real jewelers who repair, a cobbler shop, two hardware stores…”

It sounds like an authentic downtown to me.