Marshall and Detroit learn from one another

Marshall Main Street is on a road trip this week.

Members of the organization, along with Niles Main Street and other area Main Street communities invaded Detroit this week. They were joined by more than 1,300 downtown development professionals, volunteers and thinkers from communities throughout the country.

For four days, starting on Sunday, they attended 60 educational sessions in Cobo Hall, and traveled to 15 areas in Metro Detroit for mobile workshops. They toured Ferndale. They partied at Eastern Market. For the first time, Detroit hosted the annual National Main Street Conference.

Why does that matter to Marshall? Because over the last 30 years, the National Main Street Center has tracked $59.6 billion in reinvestment in physical improvements from both public and private sources in their communities, with a net gain of 115,381 businesses and 502,728 jobs. In 2013, every dollar invested in Main Street communities resulted in $33.28 of economic impact, making it most effective downtown revitalization effort in the country--and Marshall has contributed to those impressive statistics.

Main Street communities such as Marshall Main Street use the National Main Street Center's Four Point Approach, an organizational technique to revitalize historic downtowns.

The concept centers on a comprehensive strategy that addresses a range of common downtown development issues simultaneously--all driven by volunteers.

"It helps to have a structure," says Sue Damron, Marshall Main Street board chair. "Instead of being a group of people trying to tackle everything, we're able to attack it with the four point approach, take our group of volunteers and break them into groups. That helps us stay focused on what we're doing."

When Marshall Main Street officially joined the program a decade ago in Michigan Main Street's inaugural class of downtowns, they'd already been operating as a downtown development authority. What the organization has found is that structure has made all the difference for downtown Marshall.

"The benefits have been huge," Damron says.

The physical changes downtown are a testimony to the impacts of Main Street. As an organization, Marshall Main Street has been responsible for burying power lines, an alley project, parking improvement, new downtown trees, and a new downtown welcome center. That's not even counting the events.

"We've developed a couple of festivals that are just incredible," says Damron. "We're raising over $30,000 for downtown with our Blues Festival, and now we're doing an ice, wine and jazz festival. The winter is tough in Michigan, so that goes on in February, and is really well received."

Among the many services available to Marshall Main Street, including training and free design, marketing and branding services from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority's Michigan Main Street Center, one of the biggest benefits to being a part of the nationwide movement is the networking and support from other communities--especially when going through a staff change as Marshall has recently.  

"The Michigan Main Street Center has been really good," Damron says. "They've kept us on track and made sure over the last 24 months we've had their specialist visiting on a regular basis."

That support network will go into hyperdrive this week during the National Main Street Conference. While the annual event has been hosted in such cities as Des Moines, Baltimore and Oklahoma City, Detroit is an especially apt location for this year's event.

"There is so much innovation happening in the neighborhoods of Detroit," says Patrice Frey, president and CEO of the National Main Street Center. "People are working to bring business back, and bring housing back, and that is exciting. There is a lot of excitement and commonality between some of the things Detroit's neighborhoods struggle with and what our communities struggle with."

What's more, though there are currently no official Main Street organizations within Detroit, Michigan itself is home to two state coordinating bodies, the Michigan Main Street Center and Oakland County's Main Street Oakland County, and more than 30 local programs throughout the state. And, not to brag, but Michigan communities have left three of the last four National Main Street Conferences with coveted Great American Main Street Awards.

"We are seeing a lot of Michigan communities really standing out," says Frey. "Michigan Main Street and Oakland County have a really strong track record of working with and investing in communities. But it comes back down to the people on the ground."

Those people on the ground, ready to roll up their sleeves to make a better community are what Main Street communities have in common more than anything else, making the theme of this year's conference, "Works in Progress" incredibly appropriate.

"There might be a lot of work ahead for areas in Detroit, but we're a city on the rise and on the comeback," says Main Street Community Downtown Ferndale's Cristina Sheppard-Decius. "We have a lot of great lessons people can learn from that."

Fortunately, the Chicago-based National Main Street Center recognized that, and believed in the Detroit enough to bring their popular conference to a city with so much to share.

"Nobody knows better than Detroiters the power of a community-driven approach to revitalization," writes Frey and National Main Street Center Board Chair Barbara Sidway in the conference program.

And after this week, Marshall Main Street and others will be bringing that knowledge and experience back from Detroit to the benefit of our area, just as Detroit will be left with some Marshall wisdom to fold into the revitalization efforts happening there.

Want to see what's happening in Main Street communities throughout Michigan? Check out Issue Media Group's eight other Michigan publications this week to learn how Main Street and this week's conference is making an impact from Iron Mountain to Saline. http://issuemediagroup.com/

This story is part of a placemaking series that is underwritten by the Michigan State Housing and Development Authority. 

All photos © Marvin Shaouni Photo

Natalie Burg is a project editor for Issue Media Group.