May, 2009

Downtown Revitalization: Building Missouri’s Economy

Missouri’s Main Street communities produced an amazing number of improvement projects in 2008, despite a “down” economic trend nationwide. There are many examples of the success achieved by using the Main Street Four-Point Approach to revitalization in numerous downtowns spanning Missouri. “Economic development is a process of innovation that increases the capacity of individuals and organizations to produce goods and services and thereby create wealth. This, in turn, can lead to jobs, income, and a tax base for communities, states and regions.”- quoted from the Higher Economic Development Connection, published by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Downtown revitalization fits the economic development definition in many ways. It creates jobs and puts people to work and new housing can be generated downtown, thereby helping keep the labor force in town. It also attracts new businesses and encourages entrepreneurism and offers local investment opportunities. Both new and expanding downtown businesses generate increased sales tax and now healthy downtowns even attract industrial businesses. Furthermore, downtowns are typically populated by locally owned businesses, whose profits generally circulate within the local economy, unlike chain stores whose profits are often transferred to corporate headquarters. Downtown festivals and events attract outside people and outside dollars as well as attract visitors who want to learn about historic preservation sites.

Why is downtown’s role in the economic development process important? It shifts from a labor intensive economy to a technology-intensive economy. It shifts from a goods-producing economy to a service-producing economy. It shifts from a national to a global economy. Small businesses are playing a greater role in our economy. The greater emphasis on compact development is growing the Smart Growth concept and downtown is once again seen as a mixed-use development opportunity. Downtowns have suffered along with everyone during the nationwide economic decline, but indicators show less impact in the downtown districts than in strip malls and the outlying commercial districts. The answer to a downtown commercial district’s ability to face adversity may be found partly in the conservative tendency of small businesses not to over reach their budgets, and partly in the strength of Main Street programs using the comprehensive approach that addresses all the issues of revitalization: Design, Promotions, Economic Restructuring and Organization. Through it all, downtown is proving once again that it is a mainstay in the modern world.

Source: Gayla Roten, Missouri Main Street Connection

To learn more about the Main Street Program, both locally and nationally, visit the following sites: www.mainstreetchillicothemo.com and www.mainstreet.org.