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ADHDA participates in the Oregon Main Street (OMS) program today, and follows the structure and guidelines set forth by OMS and the National Main Street program.

DID YOU KNOW?
From 1980 through 2010, Main Street communities nationwide:

• Saw $51.1 billion in reinvestment
• Had a net increase of 99,508 businesses
• Had a net increase of 436,909 jobs
• Had 221,775 building rehabilitations
• Generated $16 of new investment for every $1 spent by the community to support the program

Statistics from www.preservationnation.org.

Oregon Main Street

Astoria is currently a participant in the Oregon Main Street program at the Transforming Downtown level.

The Main Street Approach is a proven comprehensive approach to commercial historic district revitalization. This approach has been implemented in more than 2,200 cities and towns in 40 states across the nation with the help of the National Main Street Center and statewide downtown revitalization programs. The success of the Main Street Approach® is based on its comprehensive nature. By fully integrating four points into a practical downtown management strategy, a local program will produce fundamental changes in a community's economic base:

• Organization involves building a Main Street® framework that is well represented by business and property owners, bankers, citizens, public officials, chambers of commerce and other local economic development organizations.
• Promotion creates excitement downtown and involves marketing an enticing image to shoppers, investors and visitors. Street festivals, parades, retail events and image development campaigns are some of the ways Main Street® encourages customer traffic.
• Design enhances the attractiveness of the business district and improvements result in a reinvestment of dollars to downtown. Some activities include historic building rehabilitation, street and alley clean-up, colorful banners, landscaping and lighting.
• Economic Restructuring involves analyzing current market forces to develop long-term solutions, such as recruiting new businesses, creatively converting unused space for new uses and sharpening the competitiveness of Main Street's traditional merchants.

Benefits of a Main Street Program:

• Improved image and community pride 
• Increased occupancy rates 
• Business retention, recruitment, expansion, and jobs 
• Technical assistance, funding opportunities, finance assistance, and training 
• New business and job opportunities 
• Better relations between local government and private sector 
• Promotion and marketing of community 
• Increased variety of service
  

The above information was gathered from the Oregon Main Street website: Oregon Main Street. 5 December 2011. Oregon Parks & Recreation Dept: Heritage Programs: State Historic Preservation Office. 15 December 2011 <http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/SHPO/mainstreet.shtml>.

National Main Street