|
|||
| Appal Home | |||
|
|||
| Search The Website | |||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Main Street Revitalization in Beattyville (4 of 12) Main Street Revitalization in Beattyville (3 of 12) Main Street Revitalization in Beattyville (2 of 12)
|
|
|
Main Street Revitalization in Beattyville (5 of 12) Posted: April 30, 2002 Something exciting happened in Beattyville last Thursday night. It was not particularly Earth shattering. And, if you came to town Friday morning, nothing appeared any different. In fact, unless you spoke to one of the forty-five people who were there and witnessed it, you might not even know that something fundamental had changed. Main Street Revitalization in Beattyville (4 of 12) Posted: April 30, 2002 Paint the Town Yellow Paint the town green. Paint the town purple, if you like. A number of years ago, I am told, the debate on what color to paint the newly restored City Hall was a lively one. Now, as we are presented with the opportunity to revitalize Beattyville’s downtown, the need for consensus is even more important. The decisions necessary for that process to succeed are complicated and without teamwork and participation of a wide group of people, can be difficult. What is needed is a plan, Stan. Main Street Revitalization in Beattyville (3 of 12) Posted: April 30, 2002 Redefining Main Street Norman Rockwell’s portraits of a slow-paced, more innocent time defined our image of small towns in the fifties. Mom and Pop shops, where every customer was a neighbor, set the standard. Small town America, in all its innocence, never looked so good. Shop owners lived above the store and made a good living. You never saw a “Going Out of Business” sign in a Rockwell painting. Main Street Revitalization in Beattyville (2 of 12) Posted: April 30, 2002 Second of twelve articles first appearing in the "Three Forks Tradition" newspaper By: Larrey Riddle In my last column I discussed the potential for regional tourism and the role a vital downtown for Beattyville plays in developing that industry locally. The rewards for successful Main Street program to a community are great: increased revenue, new job generation, rehabilitation of buildings, a healthier business environment, and more visitors. The National Main Street Project (www.mainst.org) offers a blueprint for successful Main Street revitalization. They have found that successes are based on a comprehensive strategy of work, tailored to the needs and opportunities in each community, in four broad areas, called the Main Street Four Point Approach. They include these elements: |
|
|
|
Renaissance KentuckyThere is a lot to celebrate in small towns in Eastern Kentucky. Small towns are a comfortable place to live and work. Small towns are unarguably slower in pace. Small towns are often just plain more friendly than larger urban areas. Yet, decades of decline and neglect have left many small towns in Eastern Kentucky with empty storefronts and disrepaired infrastructure. Main Street businesses are struggling to compete in arenas that did not even exist twenty years ago. The State, recognizing this problem has built a coalition of public and private, state and federal funding sources to help small towns revitalize their downtowns. "Renaissance Kentucky" program has only been in existance for a few years, but has distributed over 71 million dollars for Main Street projects. Equally important is the process of local participation the Renaissance program outlines. In the seventies and eighties many planning agencies got fat writing 'Main Street Plans' for cities. The large majority of these were never adapted for one very simple reason: While there was a token effort to seek public opinion, the public was not involved and therefore did not take ownership of the program. Renaissance Kentucky is about planned growth. It is about local support and control. And it is about support for local businesses. You can't have a strong and vital downtown without having healthy merchants. The following articles were first published in the Beattyville "Three Forks Tradition" and are a chronicle of one town struggling with the process of building an organization to drive the process of revitalization. Anyone else wishing to relate their experiences with a Main Street project is more than welcome to submit their own story to this page. |
| BROWSE | Headlines and Postings |
|
|
|
|
|