Canby Herald Online

Main Street potential

Thursday meeting targets plans for downtown revitalization

• By: John Baker  
• Published: 7/14/2009 10:44:56 AM

A new vision for Canby’s downtown will begin the development process at a special meeting to discuss the Main Street Program Thursday from 8 to 9 a.m. at the Canby Pub and Grill annex room.

The meeting targets downtown businesses and property owners but is open to anyone who’s interested in the future of Canby’s downtown, said Catherine Comer, economic development manager for the city.

“We want to explain what Main Street is, how it works and what we hope to accomplish in the next year,” Comer said. “We want to talk about staffing the program and other aspects, but the first thing is to go over what Main Street is and provide that understanding.”

Main Street is a national effort at a community-driven, comprehensive methodology used to revitalize older, traditional business districts throughout the United States. It is a common-sense way to address the variety of issues and problems that face traditional business districts and downtowns.

The program offers resources at the national, state and county level, all of which Canby’s Main Street program can resource as it moves forward. Comer said that is a huge advantage toward making the program work and creating revitalization within the downtown area.

“We’re part of a bigger picture and we want to engage businesses and property owners into becoming part of Main Street,” Comer said.

The meeting will look at the Main Street Four Point Approach: 
Organization — assembles public and private leaders within communities to work towards revitalization goals. 
Promotion — Sells a positive brand image of the commercial district drawing visitors, shoppers and investors downtown. 
Design — enhances both livability and attraction of the area by rehabilitating historic buildings, creating pedestrian-oriented streets and encouraging context-sensitive new construction. 
Economic restructuring — involves analyzing current market forces to develop long-term solutions.

“We want to share opportunities that businesses and property owners can be involved in,” said Comer. “We will have services at the county and state level that will help us at the local level. They’ve already done an historic building inventory for Canby — those are some of the types of things that benefit us by being part of this bigger picture.”

Comer said she’s a strong believer in the Main Street concept and the revitalization efforts that can help develop in older downtown areas.

“It’s a very exciting plan,” she said. “I believe in Main Street and the approach of the program that benefits the entire downtown and therefore the entire community. I believe in the Main Street philosophy that downtowns are strong indicators of the community profile and the economic healthy of a community.
“We’ll use this first meeting to just review the program, talk about our work plan and take questions from the audience,” she added.

For more information, contact Comer at 503-266-7001 or by e-mail at comerc@ci.canby.or.us.

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