Main Street’s Housing Guidebook for Local Leaders

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Those of you who follow Rural Resurrection’s Twitter account (@ruralresurrect), know that I tend to follow Main Street America’s Twitter feed (@NatlMainStreet) quite closely. In fact, if you looked at my “likes” Main Street America’s posts are quite possibly 1/4 of my likes. They have a very active feed with a wide range of helpful information.

A few weeks ago I can across a “Tweet” of theirs about one of Main Street America’s new products. The Main Street’s Housing Guidebook for Local Leaders is a veritable treasure trove of information about housing. As we all know, we are witnessing a massive housing shortage throughout the United States. From small towns to large cities, everyone is feeling the crunch. Main Street’s approach of course targets downtowns, many times involving existing buildings, to provide additional housing options.

According to their research, Main Street America found that 87 percent of Main Street leaders see housing as a concern in their downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts. Their concerns were not just about the lack of housing options, but the quality of housing provided. This guidebook was drafted to help that eye-popping number of concerned leaders in communities across the nation.

Spotlight on Greatness

Throughout this housing guidebook there are examples of how communities have successfully made downtown housing work. They’ve spotlighted specific projects and districts that have succeeded, giving other main street networks an example of what can work in their own community.

One of the projects highlighted was an upper-story housing project in Emporia, Kansas. In fact, it is the same project we highlighted on Rural Resurrection last year in “Emporia Sees Rise in Upper-Story Housing“. Now called the Baldwin Motor Company Lofts, the project utilized Kansas’ Upper Story Rural Housing Incentive District (RHID), amongst others, to revitalize the second story of a former downtown auto dealership.

More information on the project, as well as an updated picture of the building, is available in the Guidebook.

700 Block Main Street Rendering

700 Block Main Street Rendering; Image Courtesy – Emporia Main Street

Check the Housing Guidebook out Now

If your community is not a Main Street America Community, I encourage you to become a member. With membership, you are provided with a wealth of information and assistance. Much more than the occasional publications that Main Street puts out to the public.

But at the very least download Main Street’s Housing Guidebook for Local Leaders and give it a read. Whether it’s the information gathered from the guidebook or further discussions with one of the communities in the spotlight, it should be fruitful for your own community.