The city recently earned a grant from the Main Street Program, through the help of Oakland County, to sustain the success indefinitely. Program advisors will be spending three years and $50,000 to improve Downtown in four areas: design, promotion, organization and economic restructuring.

"We see growth pressing on all aspects of the district. We're going to help the community manage this growth in the best possible way for the city," says John Dalzell, a senior architect with Boston's Redevelopment Authority and a member of the Main Street Program Associate team.

The team will present preliminary recommendations to the city Wednesday evening. After the conference, the associates will be checking in with the city, and will soon assign a date for a strategic planning session to set up firm methods for attaining the recommended actions.

A needs assessment was done in November. Some preliminary recommendations from that effort include moving the DDA out of city hall and improving marketing and calendar efforts.

"As a Downtown, you don't really compete with the local malls. A Downtownprovides its own little niche of retail," Dalzell says.

Some of the services provided by the Main Street program include:

* Design assistance

* Business recruitment

* Business development

* Design incentive programs for facades and other attributes

* Marketing programs

Nicholas Kalageresis, a program associate, says Main Street does not operate like the top-down urban renewal programs of the '60s and '70s. "People felt no control over the process," he says. "Our program is from the bottom-up. We establish volunteer committees and let them decide the direction of the Downtown, in conjunction with the citygovernment. The best plans usually come from a consensus of these two groups."

Two other Oakland County cities, Walled Lake and Rochester, also were selected for the program. The team visited Walled Lake in February, and will move on to Rochester next week.

Instant Insights /

Popular Suburban Downtown Receiving National Help

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