Main Street USA

[Urbanrailfan]

What are the Main Streets like in your cities? I'm not talking about just any thoroughfare. I'm talking about how such a street of importance would make a difference in the downtowns of cities, even the small towns. Example: Main Street USA runs through Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

[Spartan]

Main Street USA as Disney world is a facade. I find it hard to make any comparison of that to a real Main Street. Maybe you could rephrase that question?

Historically, main streets were the main road that passed through a city, and so that is where most of the commercial development occured. It is still the same today, excpet the main roads have shifted to these things called interstates. Interstates are great for commerce, and leisure travel. They also serve their original purpose of linking military bases.

[DBR96]

"Main Street USA" was actually patterned by Walt Disney to resemble the business district in his hometown of Marceline, MO.

http://www.pacificsites.com/~drhoades/mainst.htm

On the south side of Marceline is the Disney Complex, which includes a municipal pool and a golf course. The original "Autopia" was eventually moved to this complex, but has since been razed.

Go to Downtown Disney in Anaheim, and you'll see a store called Marceline's Confectionery, which is another tribute to his hometown.

http://www.mouseinfo.com/downtowndisney/marcel.html

Walt Disney, "Marceline's favorite son."

http://www.ruralmissouri.org/septdisney.html

The inspiration behind Main Street USA:

http://lamar.colostate.edu/~koziol/mc696/main-street.htm

My mom's side of the family is from Marceline, MO. That's how I found out about all this stuff. (Oh yeah, my mom and uncle both went to Walt Disney Elementary School.)

Many of my relatives (on both sides of my family) live in nearby Brookfield.

[Brickell]

http://www.flheritage.com/bhp/main_st/index.cfm

Florida has a program to revitalize it's "main streets".

Flagler, through downtown is Miami's "Main", though it's been swallowed up by downtown development.

Homestead has a very nice "main street".

[wolfdawg54]

Jacksonville has a nice main street but it kind of gets lost out in the boonies towards the airport.

[Guest donaltopablo]

Atlanta's is Peachtree Street. Not a homey, small town kind of main street, but is certainly one of the best addresses to have in Atlanta, residential or commerical. It is also the address of the majority of Atlanta's skyscrapers.

[Urbanrailfan]

San Francisco has Market Street, running from the Embarcadero out to Mt. Sutro. It has shops, businesses, and is a rail transit hub because the F-Line Streetcar runs on surface, while the Muni Metro and BART run underground throughout the CBD.

The Las Vegas Strip, locally known as the Boulevard, runs through most casinos. Southernmost is the Luxor, northernmost is the Stratosphere. The Strip is the only highway to be a nighttime scenic route (you get the idea why).

Michigan Avenue in Chicago is the main route for downtown shopping.

Austin has Congress Avenue. Coming from the south on the street, it passes thru a shopping district, then it goes over a bridge over Colorado River / Town Lake. Then it goes into downtown, passing skyscrapers, shops, businesses and the tallest building is located on this street. It terminates in front of the State Capitol Building.

New Orleans has Bourbon Street (French Quarter), Mardi Gras Style.

Philadelphia probably has two main streets, because both run into historic city hall: Broad Street running North/South and Market Street running East/West. Both streets also are SEPTA transit hubs for subway systems running underground.

[Urbanrailfan]

Oh, and Route 66 was the Main Street of America. It was also the Main Street of some cities and towns, some of which I can name: Barstow, CA, Flagstaff, AZ, Albuquerque, NM (locally called Central Avenue).

[swags]

In Toronto, it would either be Yonge St., with the subway running underneat it and the almost endless commercial and residential development along the way. For shopping, it would be Queen St, with it's streetcar and neat little shops in old restored buildings.

[cityboi]

For Greensboro without a doubt it would have to be Elm Street in downtown. Elm Street is lined with building from the late 19th century and early 20th century. Its also the heart of downtown Shopping, restaurants, Nightclubs, bars and entertainment.

[urbanguy]

Hmmm in Honolulu there's a few that i can think of one would be Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki its like Honolulu's version of Rodeo Drive lots of fancy smancy rich people stores/boutiques, etc and possibly Kuhio cause it has many shops and activity too and its not like fancy smancy Kalakaua Ave. In the Downtown Honolulu and Midtown Areas, I'd Say King Street, Beretania, Kapiolani, & Ala Moana they are all like main streets and offer tons of shopping, eateries, entertainment, you name it. You are never too far from those types of amenities in the city portion of Honolulu and you dont have to go to just one spot for action, nearly every major hood is close to a "main street" atmosphere. BTW all those streets i mentioned run east to west so they are all like paralell to each other so if you live with in the blocks in between you have easy access and can just walk to them much like i do.

[sleepy]

New Orleans has Bourbon Street (French Quarter), Mardi Gras Style.

I don't think anyone in New Orleans considers Bourbon Street a "Main Street". That honor would go to Canal Street as the traditional downtown Main Street, and perhaps St. Charles Avenue, just because it's so beautiful, runs the length of the city, and is a major transportation route.

[urbanguy]

^I agree Bourbon Street is basically the citys entertainment/red light district.

[sleepy]

Beyond that, locals don't even go there. I lived there 25 years and went into a bar on Bourbon maybe twice. Most non-tourist clubs are uptown and/or scattered throughout the neighborhoods.

[Ron Newman]

Brattleboro, VT, has barely 12,000 people, but it has a Main Street (yes, called Main Street) with enough retail stores and restaurants to support a city 20 times that size.

[Urbanrailfan]

There is such a thing as Main Streets when it comes to beaches and proximity to waters and/or beaches:

U.S. 90 is locally known as Beach Boulevard in the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It is the main street through Gulfport and Biloxi, whose city centers are 10 miles apart.

Galveston has Seawall Boulevard alongside the Gulf.

Pacific Coast Highway (CA Hwy 1) runs along the Pacific Ocean throughout most of California, from Orange County to 100 miles north of San Francisco. Oregon and Washington have Highway 101 for the rest of the way.

I'm not sure where the River Road runs exactly if it is both sides of the Mississippi.

As CA Highway 1 is to California, Florida has Highway A1A running along the Atlantic Coast from Miami to Jacksonville.

[BigCityAttitude]

Ron Newman- Are you from Brattleboro? I'm in Bellows Falls

[Allan]

Detroit's main street is Woodward Avenue, which runs from the riverfront downtown all the way to Bloomfield Hills in the suburbs, 28 miles away.

[Cotuit]

The main streets in Augusta; Bethel; Brunswick; Kennebunkport; Lovell; Stoneham; and Troy, Maine are called Maine Street. Cute, eh?

The town I grew up in (Barnstable, Massachusetts) has 5 main streets, named Main Street. One each in the villages of Cotuit, Barnstable (runs into the neighbouring village, West Barnstable), Hyannis, Centerville, and Marstons Mills.

[Ron Newman]

Nope, I don't live in Brattleboro, I just enjoy visiting it. For a small city it feels very complete, like you don't have to leave the few blocks of Main Street for anything you might want or need.

Cotuit, that sounds like hell for the post office or anyone who lives on those streets. They do at least have different ZIP codes, I hope?

[Cotuit]

Cotuit, that sounds like hell for the post office or anyone who lives on those streets.  They do at least have different ZIP codes, I hope?

Yes, the town of Barnstable has 11 ZIP codes. Seems like a lot for 50K people don't it? The town also has various South Main, East Main, and West Main Streets (I can't think of a North Main Street). Also, the Village of Osterville's main street is called South County Road, but everyone refers to it as Main Street.

[josita]

I would suggest looking on the Historic Trust for Preservation website: http://www.mainstreet.org/

for GREAT information on their program of promoting Main Streets across the USA. I also know that Boston has a good Main Street programs for their city neighborhoods, money for facade improvements, etc.

I am specifically interseted in wondering what makes a GOOD Main Street. Of course, it depends one each community, but their must be essential components that must be considered in developing all Main Streets.

In DL it's clean streets, impeccable paint and building aesthetic, etc. But what of the economic components like businesses, restaurants, shops, mixed use buildings, environmentally friendly aspects. It's not just a place to buy - it's a place to live and work also.

Is their a "blueprint" of what makes a good Main Street?

[Cotuit]

I also know that Boston has a good Main Street programs for their city neighborhoods, money for facade improvements, etc.

Boston's Main Streets program is excellent and has really turned around a lot of downtrodden areas of the city. Boston's Main Streets homepage can be found here.

[accatt2204]

Guess orange ave. is main st. orlando.

What is new yorks main st? 5th ave?

[Cotuit]

What is new yorks main st? 5th ave?

Broadway.

Though there is at least one "Main Street" in New York City. Flushing, Queens main street is Main Street, and the last stop on the 7 subway line in Flushing is called "Main Street."