Downtown Lansing Inc. went on a road trip this week.
Members of the organization, along with the Old Town Commercial Association and other area Main Street communities such as Portland invaded Detroit this week. They'll be joined by more than 1,300 downtown development professionals, volunteers and thinkers from communities throughout the country. For four days, they'll attend 60 educational sessions in Cobo Hall, as well as travel to 15 areas in Metro Detroit for mobile workshops. They'll tour Ferndale. They'll party at Eastern Market. For the first time, Detroit is hosting the annual National Main Street Conference.
Why does that matter to Lansing? 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 the most effective downtown revitalization effort in the country — and Lansing-area downtowns have contributed to those great statistics.
Main Street communities, such as Downtown Lansing Inc. and the
Old Town Commercial Association 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.
"No one is going to come in and save your downtown on a shiny white horse," says Downtown Lansing Inc. Executive Director Mindy Biladeau. "That doesn't happen. It take a lot of hard work and change doesn't happen overnight. You can't sit and talk about what needs to be done."
When Downtown Lansing Inc. officially joined the program last year, they'd already been operating under the Main Street method since 2008. What the organization has found is that leveraging volunteers to tackle all aspects of downtown development - promotions, organization, business development and design - has made all the difference for downtown Lansing.
"That's the biggest change for us," Biladeau says. "It's really exciting to see business owners and volunteers really step up and create work plans. It's really rewarding work, and really hard work."
Of course, there's been quite a bit of physical change downtown over past several years as well. The revitalization of the Knapp's building and attracting new businesses with national buzz like Tom + Chee might have seemed like impossible dreams a decade ago. In fact, continuing to grow and thrive at all as district throughout that same troubled time period is a testimony to the impacts of Main Street.
"It's about strengthening and protecting the tax base," says Biladeau. "Especially during the economic downturn, our downtown has thrived through it all. There were many examples of decline around here, and we were the exception to that rule."
Among the many services available to Downtown Lansing Inc., including training and free design, marketing and branding services from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority's
Michigan Main Street Center, Biladeau says one of the biggest benefits to being a part of the nationwide movement is the networking and support from other communities.
"If you are having an issue, nine times out of ten, someone else has had it already," she says. "You can start form there instead of from square one. And they're your biggest supporters."
That networking 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, Biladeau finds Detroit to be an especially apt location for this year's event.
"I think it's wonderful that the conference is finally in Michigan and Detroit is the perfect place to host it because of all the revitalization that has been happen there," she says, "They have challenges, but there is so much happening there."
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 — including Old Town in 2011.
"We are seeing a lot of Michigan communities really standing out," says Patrice Frey, president and CEO of the National Main Street Center. "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, Downtown Lansing Inc. 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 Lansing wisdom to fold into the revitalization efforts happening there.
Want to see what's happening in Main Street communities throughout Michigan? Check out the eight other Issue Media Group Publications this week to learn how Main Street and this week's conference is making an impact from Iron Mountain to Saline.
This story is part of a placemaking series that is underwritten by the Michigan State Housing and Development Authority.