The Ohio Main Street Program, administered by Heritage Ohio, has been working with communities across the state to revitalize their historic or traditional commercial areas. Based in historic preservation, the Main Street approach was developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to save historic commercial architecture and the fabric of American communities' built environment, but has become a powerful economic development tool as well. The Main Street program is designed to improve all aspects of the downtown or central business district, producing both tangible and intangible benefits. Improving economic management, strengthening public participation, and making downtown a fun place to visit are as critical to Main Street's future as recruiting new businesses, rehabilitating buildings, and expanding parking. Building on downtown's inherent assets -- rich architecture, personal service, and traditional values and most of all, a sense of place -- the Main Street approach has rekindled entrepreneurship, downtown cooperation and civic concern. It has earned national recognition as a practical strategy appropriately scaled to a community's local resources and conditions. And because it is a locally driven program, all initiative stems from local issues and concerns. >> Application Learn how to become an Heritage Ohio Main Street Program. You will find everything from application procedures and the timeframe, to the requirements needed to become and official program on this page. >> Directory of Programs Find the complete list of official Heritage Ohio Main Street Programs in the state. Contact information is available. >> Map of Programs See the location of Heritage Ohio's Main Street Programs on a map of Ohio. >> Four-Point Approach Learn about the four-point approach of Main Street. >> 8 Principles The four-point approach is based on eight principles that pertain to all areas of the revitalization effort. >> 10 Criteria >> Reinvestment Statistics Reinvestment Statistics through 2006 Total number of communities 50 Total $ invested in improvement $414,580,949.79 Average investment per Community $8,291,619.00 Net new businesses 464 Net new jobs 2,268 Full-time/1,645 Part-time Business expansions 278 Buiding rehabilitation projects 1691 Reinvestment ratio $22.56 to $1.00 Volunteer hours donated (since 2000) 295,270 New housing units created (since 2000) 537

Heritage Ohio, 846 1/2 East Main Street, Colulmbus, OH 43205, 614.258.6200, info@heritageohio.org