Georgia Downtowns
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • TESTIMONIALS
  • CONTACT

FLY THE FLAG FOR MAIN STREET

9/17/2019

 
LESSONS FROM OUR "HIGH STREET TO MAIN STREET" UK TOUR
https://www.theintelligencer.net/news/top-headlines/2019/03/wheeling-heritage-named-a-great-american-main-street-award-winner/
https://www.theintelligencer.net/news/top-headlines/2019/03/wheeling-heritage-named-a-great-american-main-street-award-winner/

THE TOUR
We traveled to the United Kingdom for three weeks in June to study the British High Street, the United Kingdom counterpart to the American Main Street. There we visited with town leaders, learned new strategies for building thriving downtowns, and observed, firsthand, thriving town centers (the British counterpart to “downtown”) in England and Wales, including winners of and runners-up for the Great British High Street Awards. Thanks to the generous spirit and collegiality of High Street leaders and business owners, we learned more on this trip than we ever imagined possible. We have organized our new knowledge into four lessons.

We present Lesson Four here.


FLY THE FLAG
Joel and I visited small UK town centers and spoke with their community and city leaders, sometimes over a cider in a pub, over tea in their offices, or over lunch in a local cafe. Reflecting on our discussions of the state of High Street in the United Kingdom, we noticed that these leaders would use the term, "fly the flag," when describing their public rallying campaigns, marketing approaches, or funding efforts, as in, "We fly the flag for our town because the people love it and want the best for it."

We love this metaphor for High Street and Main Street vitality and the spirit of small downtowns as they seek to fly their flags and bring economic prosperity to their communities and regions.


UK INVESTMENT: A NEW FLAG FOR HIGH STREET
Speak to folks in the United Kingdom about the state of High Street and they often react with worry and concern.

Many High Streets in small United Kingdom towns are suffering, partly due to high rents, real estate costs, online competition, national property taxes, and the dispersal of the village life to the suburbs with its big box shopping.

Fortunately, the British government, the Great British High Street Awards program and the newly appointed Minister of High Streets are focused on flying a new flag on High Street.

Announced last year and updated just last month, the government has set aside $870 million for the Future High Streets Fund, to help local leaders rebuild and revitalize their town centers. Projects can range from transportation to converting empty retail into homes. In addition, the Great British High Street Awards program brings funding, maxing awards at $20,000 and allowing each of designee to sow the seeds of winnings into substantial projects.

Considering that the United Kingdom is about the size of Georgia and South Carolina, this is a lot of funding for innovation and rebuilding. This funding provides needed momentum for town centers seeking to fill vacant storefronts. If the national business rates aren’t to be lowered to assist retailers on High Street, then perhaps these infusions of grant monies will serve to help High Street prosper at least until the tax rates are changed.

And, many small town centers are thriving and growing on High Street!

Visit the Great British High Street Awards Twitter page to read exciting stories about and see photos of reviving downtowns; they are coming back to full occupancy and bringing new energy to village life.


A NEW FLAG FOR MAIN STREET: FUND THE GREAT AMERICAN MAIN STREET AWARD
The Great American Main Street Award is a National Main Street Center awards program, with winners announced and celebrated at its professional conference each year. The Great American Main Street Awards program and the Great British High Street Awards program are similar in process, but radically different in two – and very important – ways.

One major difference is organizational.

The Great American Main Street Award is under the flag of the National Main Street Center, an organization that has been...helping revitalize older and historic commercial districts for more than 35 years. Today it is a network of more than 1,600 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, who share both a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development (emphasis added) (website).

The National Main Street network is big - huge!

And its Great American Main Street Award is part of a much larger mission: to preserve historic assets, revitalize downtowns, and build community through its successful Four-Point Approach to economic development.

On the other hand…

The Great British High Street Awards program is a stand-alone program, without a formal member-driven infrastructure or governance. This makes it vulnerable to funding cuts. But this may all be changing because of the new initiatives, as described above.

This leads to the second distinction between High Street and Main Street award programs – funding.

The Great British High Street Awards program now comes with funding that provides tangible resources to the intangible, current (and important), national media coverage.

The Great American Main Street Award does not award funding.

To address this gap, we suggest that the National Main Street Center create a category within the Great American Main Street Awards program, one that provides a substantial grant, designated especially for small towns that are suffering from blight or population decline and seeking to rebrand or build a tourism niche or community identity. 

Such funding would allow small town Main Street managers to engage planners, designers, market data researchers, and other consultants to partner with their communities.

Winning downtowns might form a hometown team, a knowledgeable group of professionals who have models and strategies to share or teach and who, along with downtown leadership, could organize and implement funding plans.  

Recipients could apply funds to a current and unrealized priority project, with the stipulation that the outcomes result in income or increase business development.

Hometown Main Streets winners could use funding to create positive stories for success, dispel negative perceptions through placemaking, and recognize local downtown activists and businesses that serve as models for the community, inspiring others to take the challenge.

FLY THE FLAG WITH DOLLARS
Following in the footsteps of the Great British High Street Awards program and funding, the National Main Street Center and its phenomenal network could use the Great American Main Street Awards program to provide tangible tools for struggling Main Streets that want to fly their flags and bring economic prosperity downtown.


- Alice Sampson

THE TOWN TEAM

7/17/2019

 
LESSONS FROM OUR "HIGH STREET TO MAIN STREET" UK TOUR
Picture
Falmouth Town Team, Richard Wilcox, Richard Gates, and Mark Williams with Joel and Alice of Georgia Downtowns
THE TOUR
We traveled to the United Kingdom for three weeks in June to study the British High Street, the counterpart to the American Main Street. There we visited with town leaders, learned new strategies for building thriving downtowns, and observed firsthand thriving town centers (the British counterpart to “downtown”) in England and Wales, including winners of and runners-up for the Great British High Street Awards. Thanks to the generous spirit and collegiality of High Street leaders and business owners, we learned more on this trip than we ever imagined possible. We have organized our new knowledge into four lessons.

​Lesson Two is presented here.



FALMOUTH, THE SPIRIT OF THE SEA
Falmouth is a beautiful port town, located in Cornwall, the southern-most county of England. Its town center is known for its deep harbors, historic preservation, and an annual Sea Shanty Festival. It is also known for its remarkable ability to collaborate, an effort that led it to winning the 2016 Great British High Street Award for “Best Coastal Community.”

We had a chance to visit with Falmouth’s “Town Team” and some of its leaders about its team, its quest for partnerships, and why collaboration is vital for economic development. (Click here to read a news article about our visit.)


“OPPORTUNITIES" INSTEAD OF "CHALLENGES"
Richard Wilcox, BID manager;* Richard Gates, Town Manager; and Mark Williams, Town Clerk joined us on a rainy Tuesday afternoon to discuss Falmouth’s economic prosperity and the essential need for partnerships. It is hard to convey how excited and optimistic these folks are about working with community organizations, volunteers, and business owners.

Their enthusiasm was extremely motivating, and their energy awe-inspiring. They welcome a challenge and focus their energies, as they work together and their partners to flip that problem into an opportunity and then celebrate the win!


A FEW TAKEAWAYS FROM THE TOWN TEAM
Wow, we think there should be a Town Team Falmouth Conference, because these folks had a lot of wonderful strategies to share with us. If we could have stayed longer, we would have had to buy another notebook. Here are a few things we learned from the Town Team…


THE CONCEPT OF A TOWN TEAM SHOULD BE ARTICULATED AND PROMOTED
For example, the Falmouth website has a page dedicated to the Town Team and most of the website’s photos feature members of the team, lots of volunteers, elected officials, and town center business owners. The town is adamant about branding and marketing with consistency.


POOL YOUR RESOURCES - BE THEY TIME, TALENT, OR TREASURE
For example, the town partnered with the community to renovate and adapt their historic post office, a majestic structure right in the center of the business district. They located government offices on the ground floor and leased offices to local businesses on the second floor, while preserving the building and interpreting its past.
 

PARTNER WITH OTHER AGENCIES
For example, like other UK cities, Falmouth must monitor its town center streets via CCTV. When funds were low, the Town Team approached the local fire brigade and offered to provide the brigade with much needed office space, in exchange for monitoring services, since the brigade’s support staff must be on call 24 hours a day. Problem solved.


BRING HIGHLY TALENTED AND TRAINED VOLUNTEERS INTO THE PROCESS
As a friend once said to one of us, “Your volunteers don’t work for you, you work for your volunteers.” Let’s face it, they require supervision and be high maintenance. But the good ones are gold. The Town Team Falmouth (and other towns we visited) depend heavily on volunteers for events and special projects. The key is to plan ahead, choose who you need, and know how you use their abilities to accomplish your goals.


MAIN STREET ADVANTAGES FOR PARTNERSHIPS
All of the strategies described above are applicable to Main Street programs. In fact, when pursuing partnerships and collaboratives, Main Street offices have fewer obstacles to challenge the formation and more resources to support them than their British counterparts.

Typically, in the UK there is a strong county government between the town and the national government. Often the county exerts controls on the towns in a district, impacting budgets, fees, services, and priorities that can affect town centers.

And, although the Great British High Street Award is an exciting contest, there is no sustainability program behind it; it has no “teeth.” A situation we hope is soon corrected. In the US, the National Main Street Center is a solid, member-driven and professional organization, with a myriad of resources for its 1,600 downtowns and districts (the Georgia Main Street Program has over 100 Main Street program member cities).


FURTHER APPLICATIONS FOR MAIN STREET
A Main Street program and its board should reach out beyond the typical relationships with its city council and staff, chamber of commerce, and business and property owners, and challenge itself to consider a wide variety and combination of partnerships.

For example:
  • Partner with regional universities or colleges to
    • locate satellite campuses downtown;
    • Create special events that will appeal to students and families who will shop and dine;
    • Seek bonds revenue opportunities;
    • Recruit interns, especially those who are in their professional programs;
    • Seek input in each entity’s master planning process; and
    • Secure use of campus parking deck for weeknight and weekend visitors;
 
  • Collaborate with your Chamber to produce advertising and marketing projects and produce partner events;
​
  • Team up with the City to
    • Participate in producing its master plan;
    • Schedule routine downtown maintenance;
    • Find funding; and
    • Make board appointments;
​
  • Meet with the Georgia Main Street Program to
    • Work with the design team and arrange for downtown concept drawings;
    • Request training; and
    • Learn about access to loans.
​

A CASE STUDY IN PARTNERSHIP
Between 2006 and 2016, the Dahlonega (Georgia) Main Street and Downtown Development Authority sponsored construction bonds for the University of North Georgia.

This partnership reinvigorated the Downtown and University relationship. Together they built dorms, a new dining hall, a much-needed parking deck, and a mixed-use building for offices and retail, creating 30 new jobs.

The downtown program then reinvested the construction bond profits into a preservation grant program for its commercial building restorations, creating 50 new jobs and leveraging $2.1 million in private investment for 30 historic buildings.

Now, that is a partnership.


WHEN IT COMES TO COLLABORATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS, FIRST THINK "TOGETHER," THEN THINK "OUTSIDE"
Naturally, the most important message about partnerships is to make them – reach out and connect with organizations that have similar missions, complementing resources, and local interests. But, you should also approach your potential partnerships by considering your plan – the economic development projects ahead.

​Often, we don’t think outside the box when it comes to collaborating with other agencies or individuals. Build your Town Team, build it with your goals in mind, and build it by thinking In ways you never considered before.

Think about your Town Team turning challenges into opportunities!




 
* Business Improvement District (more about these in another lesson)

​
​- Alice Sampson

Downtown Design: In the Beginning

6/29/2016

0 Comments

 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/RomeGeorgia.jpgRome, Georgia

Pondering the beginnings of a downtown’s design is a useful exercise for any main street manager, city council member, or historic preservation supporter.

Consider: what is the pattern of your downtown’s street and building network? Was it organized in equal grids around a central public square or shaped with curves and twists along a meandering river? Or is it positioned linearly along a railroad line? Such original planning decisions were made by your downtown’s founding leaders and set the mold that made your town unique.

The next steps in its unique development may have been based on property owners’ and builders’ choices of materials: what was readily available to the craftspeople who designed and built the area’s first commercial and residential buildings? Were the preferred building materials some type of locally sourced wood, brick, or stone, or something even more exotic and unique to the area?

After decades of development, did your city decide to implement zoning and design guidelines to manage 20th century growth with the introduction of automobile traffic and suburban building? How did that planning and zoning impact the design and construction decisions that still characterize the look of your downtown today, now maybe 75 years later?
​
Once you have assessed your downtown’s design history, ask yourself, what is your community doing today to guide good design for the future of your downtown? Are you leading efforts to update or draft downtown master plans that allow local residents to provide essential input on preservation and new construction guidelines? I know that many Georgia cities are engaged in this visionary effort and should be applauded for their leadership. When working with a clear understanding of the influence of past design, Georgia’s downtowns are positioning themselves for a twenty-first century vision for success!
0 Comments

Thinking Great on Main Street

6/23/2016

 
Picture
Applying for the Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) is more than completing an application – it is an exciting opportunity for you to measure the successes of your downtown revitalization program. Once you embrace the work, you’ll discover that the required level of reflection is, in fact, energizing. The process will help you better communicate your downtown’s successes through verbal, written, and visual methods. Long after the application is submitted, you’ll continue to return to the rich portfolio you created and use it to tell your downtown story.
For example, the GAMSA application requires the applicant to consider the concept of “live-ability,” as it relates to downtown, asking:
  • What is your downtown’s level of walkability for pedestrians?
  • What are the existing residential options, availability, and price points?
  • Are there any incentives available for residential rehabs, restorations, or new construction?
  • Is the number of downtown residents increasing?
  • Is there an adequate mix of retail businesses, service businesses, restaurants, and cultural amenities to serve the needs of residents?
  • Who are the downtown partners who are helping, or can help you, implement projects to make downtown more live-able?
Completing the GAMSA application may seem like a big task, but if you and your team keep in mind the additional benefits gained by focusing on your downtown’s assets and its successes and needs, at the end of the process you will already be a winner!
  • LikeThinking Great on Main Street
  • Comment
  • ShareShare Thinking Great on Main Street

    ​
    Picture

    Word on Main

    A blog about downtown and the ideas, issues, and inspirations that make it a great place to be.

    Archives

    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    August 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016

    Categories

    All
    Awards
    Design
    Economic Vitality
    Funding
    Organization
    Planning
    Promotion
    Vision
    Volunteers

Georgia Downtowns
​

​​​Strategies and Solutions ​for Main Street
georgiadowntowns@gmail.com
Dahlonega, Georgia 30533  


  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • TESTIMONIALS
  • CONTACT