The Main Street Now conference is the largest gathering of downtown revitalization leaders each year. This year the conference is in Tulsa from April 12-15, 2026. Wayfinding helps to orient to the downtown. There are multiple subareas that they define. I started in the Cathedral District, moved through the Art Deco district and got as far as Utica Square by
Founders of the market sought to create something more than a store, where friends and neighbors could gather together. They feature a juried collection of over 40 makers, curators and collectors. Domaci Market is a general store offering everyday essentials for a healthy home, and Domaci Design Studio to support furniture shopping. Events are held regularly, including in the upper
An alphabet garden has the letters HCC presumably for Hershey Community College. Another promotes Hershey Cocoa with the smokestacks of the company in the background. The Farmer’s Market was open the day we visited. There was a beautiful parklike setting beneath a substantial tree canopy. This lent itself to an enjoyable stroll despite the warmer weather. Hershey Community Center Building
The marketspace at Westfield was a holiday market held on six days between December 7 and 22, 2019. The market took over a sizable ground floor space of a two-story building that was previously vacant. Curated vendors brought vitality to this block and surrounding area during one of the busiest times of year. At the building level, all that makes
Post Alley The illuminated sign for post alley and ample lighting makes it attractive and welcoming at day and night. Within the alley itself, architectural details enhance the sense of place. Starbucks The first Starbucks store is only a few steps from the market. Opened in 1971, it bears little resemblance to the modern-day stores that people know. Other than
The glass canopy provides cover while also allowing daylight below. Ample space for vendors is also provided. Paving on the piazza further gives a strong sense of place making it welcoming for people. A literal red carpet directs people past businesses lining the piazza. The tents beneath the canopy give a contained space for each vendor. This also extends the
Interior of the Ithaca Farmers Market, an iconic vendor-owned cooperative pavilion situated along Cayuga Lake at Steamboat Landing in Ithaca, New York. This rustic open-air wooden structure styled after a 13th-century European cathedral, with an open air clerestory and elevated roof above that. The market highlights regional businesses located within a 30-mile radius of the pavilion. Notable visible signage includes
Ithaca, New York, has one of the few surviving pedestrian plazas. In the 1970s several downtown areas closed streets to traffic to create a pedestrian area in the public realm. Very few of these were effective, and later the street was reintroduced in many. Ithaca has been resistant to this trend, instead choosing to replace their original design with brand
Heading into Midland, Live Oak Coffee House proudly displayed the outline of an oak in black and white against a landscape full of vibrant and colorful colors. Once downtown, the landscaping caught us right away. An effort was clearly made to utilize native plants and grasses. The Midland Visitor Center gave us a good overview of what to find in
When we visited in 2018, the Farmers Market was arranged in the round. A roughly circular pavilion provided shelter for customers. Vendors were arranged on either side. One of our finds at the market were heirloom tomatoes. After bringing some of the seeds back to New Jersey, these would become regulars in our garden from this point forward. This visit