Save Main Street

I have fond memories of the Main Street in the small town where I grew up. For years it retained its brick paved thoroughfare and was the host of nearly every important town event; homecoming and county fair parades, pancake races, santa’s visits, and 4th of July celebrations, just to name a few. Back then a town’s Main Street was it’s heart. Urban sprawl has nearly put an end to the American Main Street. With towns and cities spreading further and further away from their original business centers Main Streets are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Or are they? The ever increasing cost of gasoline and the growing concern for the environment has meshed to create a new breed of people ready to forgo their automobiles for either cycling or walking, in turn creating a revival of the Main Street mentality. Today the term “Main Street” continues to hold meaning as a symbol of traditional values, and is often used by companies and politicians to represent all that is good in America. Perhaps the endangered species of Main Street as we know it will survive, and evolve; becoming the sustainable central hub in a wheel of many “Main Streetesque” pockets within a city’s landscape.