Main Street Oakland County Welcomes New Communities

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson is pleased to announce that Waterford Township and South Lyon have joined the Main Street Oakland County (MSOC) Mentoring Program. The MSOC community announcement was made earlier this month during the Oakland County Planning & Economic Development Services' 12th annual Heritage Conference in Pontiac.

"I welcome our new communities to the Main Street program," said Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson. "Waterford and South Lyon have demonstrated their eagerness to embrace their heritage while developing downtowns that serve as a financial and social focal point for their communities."

The original "Village of Waterford" plat is located in the center of Oakland County, adjacent to the Waterford Historic District on Andersonville Road, which has interesting and architecturally significant Greek Revival and Victorian style houses, a church, carriage houses, barns and remnants of a small commercial district. Situated next to the old Mill Pond at the southwest corner of the intersection, the area provides great potential for water related development and activities. Township officials want to bring back a small scale, centrally located downtown area which will be more like a "village hamlet." The Waterford Historic District Commission and Waterford Township Planning Department will be the leading partners in their Main Street efforts.

South Lyon, located in the southwest corner of Oakland County, has a classic, historic downtown with a wide variety of historic architecture from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Improvements have taken place throughout downtown in recent years, and City Officials want to take it to the next level and work with the community through the MSOC Program. The City, City Manager, Community Development Director and the DDA are eager move forward with a comprehensive management program for the Core Downtown and the entire DDA.

Main Street is a trademarked program of the National Main Street Center in Washington, DC. Farmington, Ferndale, Franklin, Highland, Holly, Lake Orion, Ortonville, Oxford, Pontiac, Rochester and Walled Lake are the selected MSOC Communities. Berkley, Clarkston, Clawson, Hazel Park, and Leonard are other communities in the mentoring program.

Oakland County was the first county in the United States to operate a full service county-wide Main Street Program for the 32 distinct, historic downtowns in Oakland County. Collectively, Main Street downtowns have generated more than $518 million in private and public investment, 3,666 new jobs and 373 new businesses since the program was formed in 2000.

For more information, see the MSOC website, www.mainstreetoaklandcounty.com.

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