It happens all the time. People get together to revitalize a town, raise some money and hire a revitalization coordinator. Hopes are high that the effort will lead to revitalization of the downtown. It is hard sometimes for the group when nothing happens immediately and people get frustrated. People threaten to drop off the board and tempers flare in the meetings.

Nothing happens immediately in the revitalization of a downtown. As the committee embraces this realization, and they find that it is not as easy as it seems, there is usually an effort to “do something, so it looks like we are doing something.” Normally this is the wrong tactic, but there are times that what is done is viewed as a success. Maybe the effort will manifest itself in firing the employee, but most times, it features becoming involved with an act unrelated to the revitalization.

Revitalization involves building off past successes and learning from past mistakes. It results from the committee is able to produce a string of small steps, and it publicly appears like a large step has been taken in the revitalization process. I normally like the standard event, because if it not successful once, it could be successful in coming weeks.

In Phoenixville, although many credit the addition of Iron Hill Brewery as the beginning of the revitalization, in reality many stores moved into the downtown before Iron Hill arrived, and we had already completed the first phase of the streetscape. It was those little stores, many of which have since failed or moved, that gave the town a positive start.

Incremental small victories will enable your committee to realize a sense of accomplishment, and provide confidence in attempting to continue to plan and execute the strategy. If in the beginning, you do not have goals and objectives and a plan for revitalization, sometimes these little victories come rarely, the committee grasps at straws in order to make it appear that they are doing something. I just had that problem in Charleroi, when some advocated for lighting the Coyle Theater marquee as a sign of progress. Problem was, we have no electric and even if we did have electric, I would be wary of just turning on the electric. With water damage and old wiring anything could happen.

In Phoenixville, I had the cooperation of the Borough and we were able to make strides in making sure that the street was clean. Trash is always a problem. I had to follow the trash trucks on South Street to make sure they picked up the trash. In Phoenixville, it was a little different, with apartment tenants putting their trash in the public trash cans.  In both cases, one of the initial issues was that there was too much litter and trash on the streets. In both cases, that accomplishment set the tone for the next level of improvement.

I have always been an advocate for advantage programming. This is when the committee takes advantage of something that happens… an opportunity. These advantage accomplishments can be anything. For example, if the football team wins the title and the firemen want to give them a parade, it is possible to take advantage of that as a downtown and have small receptions in the stores during the parade. Flexibility is the key in these situations, but advantage programming is not a substitute for having good goals and objectives and implementing those goals and objectives.

It comes down to how strong your plan is, and how perceptive the committee was in the planning stages to develop a plan that had true meaning. As the committee executes the objectives, the incremental improvements will all add up, and revitalization momentum builds. The incremental changes make the program a success.

The best way to get your repositioning effort on track is for people to say nice things about what you are doing. Whether it is making the downtown cleaner, providing regular events or securing a new business when people talk about it, it is then very powerful. It is the public recognition of your efforts that provides momentum. If the strategy with the goals and objectives are coherent and useful, the changes that are being implemented will produce improvements.

Many times committees stray from the goals and the objectives in order to make something happen to make it look like they are doing something.  In the end, it does not work and the short-term gain will fade in the memories of the community. It is important to be comprehensive in your approach and stick to the plan. 

Normally when a main street committee establishes goals, they do so with the four-point approach. Promotion, Design, Organization and Economic Restructuring are the four points. The points are comprehensive in nature and can be adapted to meet the needs of all circumstances.