Insights and observations on the redevelopment and revitalization of post-industrial towns on the Route 422 Corridor in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

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Death of the Greenline

When you are a revitalization coordinator in a town, you learn to “go wide” with projects so you can have the greatest impact in a community. Business people and governments raise a bunch of money, articulate all their hopes and dreams, and hand them to you to make a reality.

New Opportunities

The winds of political change flew through the state capitol last fall, as we were the recipients of a new governor. Any time the government changes administrations, new priorities bring new programs for communities across the commonwealth.

State Stores in the Downtown

Main Street Managers talk to each other all of the time. One manager will encounter many of the same problems encountered by another manager. One problem continues to come to the forefront of issues relating to the downtown… losing your Liquor Control Board (LCB) state store.

Transit Oriented Development is a Plus for a Community

America of the 1870s saw a lot of towns suddenly appear along the rail lines as the population moved westward. Chicago and Los Angles grew into large cities and rail hubs from small towns, because people wanted to be near transportation. Smaller towns like Sayre, Pennsylvania started as a company-controlled entity as the railroad located headquarters there.

Vision and Development

I was in Phoenixville the other day and found that the new downtown development is being constructed that will soon transform downtown Phoenixville. The project has been in the works since 2010. My working the project through the initial approval process was my first consulting job after the Main Street CDC in Phoenixville.

“I Am Main Street” Begins

The effort to create a more dynamic and self-sustaining downtown/neighborhood revitalization effort is finally ready to kick off. Eight downtown managers from around the state have banned together to form the “I AM MAIN STREET” organization. Starting anything from scratch is a difficult task, and there have been many ups and downs while starting this movement.

Promotions and Festivals as an Economic Development Tool

There is always a need for things to happen in a downtown around Christmas in order to spur year-end sales. It is hard for a downtown to compete with big box stores or the chain stores that are located in malls. People try to shop in the downtown central business district as a way of securing alternative goods that are not part of the homogenized offerings of the chains and the big box stores.

Downtown Development as a Profession

Many people ask me “How did you get into the downtown development business?” The fact is that I am not sure how it happened. I remember in the early years it was not really a profession, and it was hard to explain what I did for a living.

Can Something Be So Bad It Is Good?

I have worked in a number of communities that have attempted to revitalize their downtown, and faced obstacles because of poor housing stock surrounding the downtown. The commonwealth attempted to address this problem with the Elm Street program. If the housing stock around the downtown is deteriorating, in many cases it deters people from entering the area.

Future of Main Street/Budget Constraints Imperil Program

It appears that a number of things have not gone well for the Pennsylvania Main Street program the last few years. Severe budget cuts and the loss of a designated specific line item in the Commonwealth budget have hurt the program. The number of Main Street programs across the state decrease annually, as local budgets shrink along with the Commonwealth’s budget.