Information AboutMain Street |
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.]] Main Street is the generic Street Name (and often the official name) of the primary retail street of a Village , Town , or small City in many parts of the world. It is usually a focal point for Shop s and Retailer s in the Central Business District , and is most often used in reference to retailing. Main Street is commonly used in the United States , Canada , Ireland , some parts of Scotland and also in some countries in central Europe (e.g. Slovakia and the Czech Republic ). High Street is the common term in the United Kingdom . In Jamaica as well as North East England and some sections of Canada, the usual term is Front Street. In Cornwall (and also in some towns in Devon), the equivalent is Fore Street. In the French -speaking Canadian province of Quebec , the term would be "rue Principale". In some larger cities, there may be several Main Streets, each relating to a specific neighborhood or formerly separate city, rather than the city as a whole. AMERICAN CULTURAL USAGE In the general sense, the term "Main Street" refers to a place of traditional values. In the North American media, "Main Street," or the interests of Small Business men, is sometimes contrasted with " Wall Street " (in the United States) or " Bay Street " (in Canada), symbolizing the interests of Corporate Capitalism . For example, in the middle 20th century the Republican Party was sometimes divided between "Wall Street" (liberal) and " Main Street " (conservative) factions, of which the latter came to predominate late in the century. "Main Street" is part of the Iconography of American life. Examples include: , featuring the small shops and old-fashioned architecture typical of rural towns.]]
In small towns across America, Main Street is not only the major road running through town but the site of all Street life, a place where townspeople hang out and watch the annual parades go by. PRESERVATION AND MAIN STREET Main Street is the name of a community revitalization program begun by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the late 1970s. The core of the Main Street philosophy is the preservation of the historic built environment by engaging in Historic Preservation . Main Street focuses on a holistic approach to revitalization based on the "4-point" approach of design, promotions, economic restructuring, and organization. Originally targeted at small, traditional downtowns, over the years the program expanded to include towns of various sizes and now even includes neighborhood districts of several large urban centers. There is some controversy as to whether or not applying the "Main Street Approach" to a downtown results in the actual preservation of a cultural landscape. While many buildings are, in fact, retained rather than demolished, Main Street communities tend to take on a homogeneous appearance of beautified streetscapes that emphasize the 19th or early 20th centuries. In some cases, stylistic elements are introduced into the landscape that never previously existed, thereby showing people what the past should have been, rather than what it was. INTERNATIONAL EQUIVALENTS vian town of Máncora , which happens to be the Pan-American Highway .]]
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