Main Street Martinez® – Downtown really does matter!

Enough stalling…. it’s time to start this Main Street Blog on Patch! Since being asked if I wanted to write a downtown Blog, I have started to write several times but it always seemed dry, full of facts, and uninspiring. Then yesterday, the Martinez Patch “5 Things” caught my eye. Entitled “Breaking the Cycle of Despair Downtown”, it touched on the obvious - things ARE happening downtown. But I started to think that maybe it isn’t that obvious to some people.

The speed of progress, no matter how you define progress, is slow and frustrating, kind of like watching grass grow. And from the outside, it seems that other communities have had great success in a short amount of time. Most of the examples of progress we see elsewhere took many years to achieve. Let me come back to that thought in a minute.

Before we get in to all that, a little history lesson is probably in order. Most people kind-of know that there is a downtown organization here in Martinez. And some of them know that organization is called Main Street Martinez®. But not many know how that organization came to be -- both in Martinez and on a national level.

What is Main Street?

Four years ago when I came to work for Main Street Martinez® I would proudly announce my new position as the Executive Director of Main Street Martinez® to friends and family - but unless the person I was speaking with was from Martinez (or another community that had a Main Street® organization) it usually meant that I needed to explain that Main Street is not just a street but also a non-profit organization whose mission is to revitalize the downtown commercial district.

All Main Street® organizations, including this one, practice the 4-Point Approach® to downtown revitalization. And, each of those four points is a standing sub-committee of the organization: Promotions, Economic Restructuring, Design, and Organization.

A Powerful Network:

Main Street® is a national movement that has spanned three decades and taken root in more than 2,000 communities – a movement that has spurred $49 billion in reinvestment in traditional commercial districts, galvanized thousands of volunteers, and changed the way governments, planners, and developers view preservation. You can read more about the National Main Street® program here.

Now back to Martinez…

Ten years ago in 2001, a group of downtown Martinez business owners and residents came together along with the support of the City to do the work needed to establish Main Street Martinez, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Today, the Main Street® Board of Directors consists of eleven members who believe in the organization and the efforts to revitalize downtown Martinez. The Main Street Martinez® organization has one full-time staff person, and a part-time membership sales person. Much of the work is done by hundreds of volunteers. Some volunteers are doing something for Main Street Martinez® on a weekly basis such as stuffing jury packets and making deliveries to businesses. Others help out monthly by serving on one of the many committees or the boards.  And some volunteers help with an event on an annual basis. No matter how much time they donate, we could not run this organization without our hard-working volunteers.

Today, the organization is going strong with the support of the City of Martinez, sponsors, and members. We invite you to ask us questions, offer suggestions, and get involved. It takes a village and there’s room for everyone. Things get done faster when everybody is “pulling the wagon in the same direction.”

Progress seems slow and many times it is, which brings me back to my earlier comments. Some folks are frustrated that we don’t have an Art & Wine event like Walnut Creek or a Farmers Market event like the one at Todos Santos Plaza in Concord.  These events, and most other successful events, have been around for a long time. This year the Walnut Creek Art & Wine is celebrating their 30-year anniversary.  Concord recently celebrated 25 years of Music & Market at Todos Santos Park. Those events are big and successful because people had the foresight and stamina to keep them going.

Progress, as Jim pointed out yesterday on Patch, is happening – please check out the Downtown Matters series of Workshops and Tours. Make time to attend as many as you can. It’s a perfect and exciting time to be involved!

Look for future Blogs, where I will introduce the Main Street Martinez® board of directors, and committees and let you in on what projects they are working on. Until then, feel free to email me at director@mainstreetmartinez.org or call (925) 228-3577 and join the village!