When the Old Takoma Business Association, voted to adopt the Main Street Program as a vehicle to help revitalise certain businesses and to bring in more of our many stakeholders, I did not envision it as a vehicle for sustainability. What I knew Main Street was a four point approach which had a proven track record to help rebuild and revitalise community commercial districts, which in turn benefit residential and commercial property owners, through its Design, Promotions, Organization, and Economic Restructuring Committees.

Time has now passed since we implemented this program for the Old Takoma neighborhood, and I now understand that we are contributing to the sustainability of our community. I see it in the recent successes we have had ~ a Main Street Clean-up Day in May, a Facade Improvement Program open to Takoma Park, MD businesses, and continued work addressing the parking issues in our commercial district. The addition of our new Executive Director, Roz Grigsby, whose background in Urban Planning will be instrumental to guide and shape the program. Main Street is all about sustainability, for now and looking to the future.

This spring I had the opportunity to travel out West and visited another Main Street community called Port townsend, in Washington State. They have had a number of years to work on their Main Street, and it shows. As my partner and my sister walked the town, I was struck at the vast similarities between the shops there and our own progressive ideals here which are manifest in our retail, professional, and service based businesses. It is a model for what we can become if we want over time, even though Old Takoma will also have its own special bent.

For those of you who live here in this community straddling the Maryland / DC border, please think about how you can help us create a sustainable community through Main Street ~ join a committee, volunteer to do one task with us. We are proud this community and want to see it grow smartly and progressively into the future, and sustain itself for years to come.

Posted by Main Street at 01:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I think it's time we all admitted to ourselves that gas is just not going to get a lot cheaper. On the contrary; the smart betting has prices going in one direction only. The bad direction. And it won't bring civilization to a grinding halt. Products, raw materials, even people, will still get from Point A to Point B. It'll just be tougher, cost more, and require a little thought. We'll find new ways to get around. I've hit on a new way that I recommend highly: feet.

More and more, I notice that the thing I resent most about driving isn't the hole it leaves in my wallet. It's the time. Time: the one thing I can't make more of. It's schlepping things out to the truck, pulling out into traffic, hitting a dozen red lights, hunting for a parking spot, and then un-schlepping. And then reversing the process. All the while, listening to the same box of records played on fifty-nine radio stations. And watching my gas gauge creeping downward. It's been said before: the more people drive, the stupider they become.

Here in Main Street Takoma, we got it easy. Folks, have you ever stopped to consider how pedestrian-friendly our Main Street is? We have groceries, clothing, entertainment, places to dine, arts, crafts, churches, even a subway, all within a 20 minute walk. And it's all punctuated with parks and neighbors. All things that are easily missed at 30 mph with the windows rolled up.

I had an errand to run downtown this past weekend. So, I stuffed my packpack (21st-century fashion item !) and hoofed it. Cut through a park and watched a family of Baltimore Orioles (the birds, not the baseball players) eating mulberries. Saw an old customer and caught up on news. Bumped into a new customer and got a business update. Cleaned some graffiti off a mailbox (Now that the revolution is here, I urge everyone to carry acetone and a rag. I do. And no smoking!). Went into the pet store and visited the adoption kitties. Stopped at another store for a Facade Improvement follow-up. Got some groceries. Picked up some trash at the Junction, and returned home. Total elapsed time: maybe 90 minutes. Yeah, somewhere in there I did my errand, too. But here's the point: sure, I probably could have driven 20 minutes and done what I really, really needed to do. But where's the fun in that, and to what end? Driving wastes time. Walking invests it.

We have a great investment opportunity right here in Main Street Takoma. It's right under our feet.
John Hume
Design Chair

Posted by John Hume at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)