Benefits

Main Street Maine

Benefits of a local Main Street Program:

• Enhances community pride and quality of life
• Preserves and creates jobs
• Enhances industrial, commercial and professional development
• Increases collaboration between public and private sectors in order to attain common goals
• Bolsters property values throughout the community
• Grows existing businesses, attracts new businesses, and reinforces other economic development activities
• Protects and utilizes the historic assets in downtown
• Increases the tax base by developing vacant and underutilized buildings to higher and better uses

Local Residents (can benefit by):

• Better shopping
• Closer shopping
• Less driving
• More social and cultural activities
• Better sense of hometown pride, community and identity
• Historical awareness
• Stable or improved home values
• A healthy local economy means property tax will not be raised
• More attractive community
• More activities for kids

Retail Business Owners (can benefit by):

• Increased sales
• An improved image
• Increased value of business
• Educational opportunities for the merchant
• Increased traffic; more people coming into the business district
• District marketing
• Better business mix / business recruitment
• Community pride
• A way to have needs and issues addressed
• Improvement in the quality of business life

Professionals (can benefit by):

• Increased traffic; opportunity for combining business and shopping District marketing; the Center is marketed as a unit
• Better business mix/business recruitment
• Increased community pride
• A way or forum for having town center needs and issues addressed
• Improvement in the quality of business life
• Reductions in vandalism or other crime
• Assistance with tax credits for professionals who own their buildings
• Assistance with design issues
• Better communication with other property owners
• Improved town center image
• New and/or better uses for existing buildings for professionals who own their buildings

City Government (can benefit by):

• Increased income to City through additional tax revenues
• Increased number of local jobs
• Improved local economy
• Positive perception outside the community of the town center
• Improved relations between City and community at large
• Business recruitment
• Impetus for public improvements

Property Owners (can benefit by):

• Increased rates of occupancy
• Rents can be stabilized or increased (helps property values)
• Reductions in vandalism or other crime
• Assistance with tax credits
• Assistance with design issues
• Better communication with other property owners
• Improved town center image
• New and/or better uses for existing buildings
• Upper floors filled
• New retail uses

Large Corporations (can benefit by):

• Increased economic and residential growth helps to spread tax burden over larger base
• Strong home values help property tax rates stay stable
• Positive perception of community is a draw for industry
• Good community image helps corporations’ local image
• An attractive community helps attract/keep employees
• Employees who live nearby miss fewer work days due to weather

Financial Institutions (can benefit by):

• Increased business deposits
• Increased potential for business loans and other bank services
• An improved image and good will
• Success of the community is crucial to banks’ success