Analyzing the Economic Effects of the "Main Street Program" on Participating South Carolina Towns
School Name
Chapin High School
Grade Level
12th Grade
Presentation Topic
Sociology
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
America’s small towns are struggling. In the modern day, many historic downtown areas throughout South Carolina and across the country are being outcompeted by large retail chains, strip malls, and shopping centers. In an effort to resist this change, many small towns have made efforts to keep themselves viable. The most prolific of these efforts is membership in a program known as the Main Street Program, which is described as “arguably the most widely used and heralded method of downtown revitalization” by a professional in the field (Robertson, 2004). To participate in this program, towns pay membership fees to the Main Street America corporation and receive in return services and resources aimed at revitalizing their downtown district. As prolific as this program is, there is minimal research regarding its effectiveness. Thus, I developed my research question: To what extent are active Main Street Programs having an effect on the economic success of small South Carolina Downtowns? - To answer this question, I will be conducting a longitudinal comparison study on 14 Main Street Program participant towns. I will examine the economic robustness of each town before they joined the program, and again 12 years after. I will compare this change to the change in economic robustness for a non-Main Street Program comparison town over the same time period. I hypothesize that Main Street Program towns will see a larger change in economic robustness than their comparison towns.
Recommended Citation
Parr, Aaron, "Analyzing the Economic Effects of the "Main Street Program" on Participating South Carolina Towns" (2024). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 427.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2024/all/427
Location
RITA 277
Start Date
3-23-2024 11:30 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
Group Project
No
Analyzing the Economic Effects of the "Main Street Program" on Participating South Carolina Towns
RITA 277
America’s small towns are struggling. In the modern day, many historic downtown areas throughout South Carolina and across the country are being outcompeted by large retail chains, strip malls, and shopping centers. In an effort to resist this change, many small towns have made efforts to keep themselves viable. The most prolific of these efforts is membership in a program known as the Main Street Program, which is described as “arguably the most widely used and heralded method of downtown revitalization” by a professional in the field (Robertson, 2004). To participate in this program, towns pay membership fees to the Main Street America corporation and receive in return services and resources aimed at revitalizing their downtown district. As prolific as this program is, there is minimal research regarding its effectiveness. Thus, I developed my research question: To what extent are active Main Street Programs having an effect on the economic success of small South Carolina Downtowns? - To answer this question, I will be conducting a longitudinal comparison study on 14 Main Street Program participant towns. I will examine the economic robustness of each town before they joined the program, and again 12 years after. I will compare this change to the change in economic robustness for a non-Main Street Program comparison town over the same time period. I hypothesize that Main Street Program towns will see a larger change in economic robustness than their comparison towns.
