City growth begins downtown

Our Main Street program works for the preservation and revitalization of a 16 block historic downtown area.  People often ask why is our downtown so important and I have many answers to that question. 

We have touched on the subject before, but I thought it might be good to list all the reasons with some explanation on each.

Downtown is a prominent employment center.  Our commercial district employs hundreds of people.
Our downtown district is a reflection of our community image, pride, prosperity, and level of investment – critical factors in business retention and recruitment efforts.

Our downtown district is an ideal location for independent businesses which:

* keep profits in our town with local owners

* support other local businesses and services

* support our local families with family-owned businesses

* provide a stable economic foundation with direct ties to our special community

Downtown is our historic core of the community. Its buildings represent the community’s past and its visual beauty.

Our vital downtown reduces sprawl by concentrating business in one area and uses community resources wisely, such as existing infrastructure, tax dollars and land.

A healthy downtown protects property in surrounding residential areas.

Our downtown district is a government center where city hall, municipal buildings, the courthouse and post office are located.

It is an important center for finding attorneys, insurance offices, financial institutions and some other important services.

Our downtown provides an important civic forum where members of the community can congregate. Special events and celebrations held downtown reinforce an intangible sense of community. Our newly renovated Opera House is a great example of a special event location.

Our historic downtown represents a huge public and private investment. Imagine how much it would cost to re-create all of the buildings and public infrastructure in the area.

These are the major reasons that our downtown is important and it can be either an asset or liability in the effort to recruit new residents, new businesses and industries, retirees, tourists and others to our community.

Let’s all support our historic downtown as well as ALL our great merchants that make up the amazing community where we live.