Our Future Main Streets:
Flexibility, Inclusion, Experience
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As the Covid-19 pandemic has forced cities to open their streets into laboratories of shared use, what have we learned about the Main Streets that form the downtown cores of our communities? What is the future of the storefront, sidewalks, and public spaces in these small, urban ecosystems? How are ground floor occupancy models shifting towards experiential programing and community spaces? How can we design our Main Streets as more inclusive places that nurture a diverse business ownership?
In this webinar we’ll hear from a range of folks involved in the design of our future Main Streets, including Lindsey Wallace of Main Street America, who will provide us with some national trends in Main Streets across the country; Zoraida Lopez-Diago of the Scenic Hudson’s River Cities program, who will discuss Main Street community collaboration across cities in the Hudson Valley; Mayor Steve Noble of Kingston, NY, who will talk about the challenge of nurturing sustainable and equitable Main Streets in a post-industrial small city landscape, and what city officials can do to encourage community development ; Rusul Alrubail of the Parkdale Centre for Innovation in Toronto, which has done a bunch of innovative work in establishing inclusive Main Streets and encouraging BIPOC business ownership and entrepreneurship; and Kristin Diotte, Director of Planning in Schenectady, NY, who will locate the different kinds of Main Streets we see in our cities, from heavily trafficked downtown corridors, to neighborhood streets, and how we can repair and maintain these corridors. Main Streets are changing alongside our cities and the possibilities are exciting.
RECOMMENDED READING: “The Death and Life of Small North American Cities” The Globe & Mail
Speakers:
LINDSEY WALLACE | Dir. of Strategic Projects & Design Services, Main Street America
ZORAIDA LOPEZ-DIAGO | Director of River Cities Program, Scenic Hudson
STEVE NOBLE | Mayor of Kingston, NY
Moderator:
REIF LARSEN | Founder, Future of Small Cities Institute
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FURTHER READING:
“The Future of the Ground Floor” Form + Place
“Planning and Urban Design to Bring Back Main Street” Fathom Studio
“Navigating Main Streets as Places” Main Street America
“The Future of Retail: Creative Approaches to Place-Based Entrepreneurship” Main Street America
Dr. Mindy Thompson Fullilove Main Street: How a City’s Heart Connects Us All
