What is a Main Street?
DC Main Streets is a comprehensive program funded by the Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD) that promotes the revitalization of commercial districts in the District of Columbia. Created in 2002 through the National Trust for Historic Preservation, DC Main Streets serve as the citywide coordinating program that provides services and funding for the designated Main Streets programs in the District of Columbia.
The District Bridges Model
District Bridges is unique among the organizations that operate DC Main Street programs. Typically, when a new Main Street program is designated, a new nonprofit organization is born. This new nonprofit then, in under a year must set up all the systems necessary to effectively function, hire an executive director, develop programming and community support, participate in a variety of trainings, and of course, fundraise.
Unlike other DC Main Street organizations, District Bridges is one entity that manages multiple Main Street programs. District Bridges was the first organization in DC to manage multiple Main Street programs. Our Main Street programs include the Cleveland Park, Columbia Heights | Mount Pleasant, Logan Circle, Lower Georgia Avenue, and U Street Main Streets.
As the first multi-Main Street organization, District Bridges has developed a model that makes launching new Main Street programs a turnkey operation streamlining the operational setup of a new program, creating economies of scale to achieve greater impact, increasing staff capacity, and most importantly developing a strategic approach to community development that looks at the holistic needs of a city to create collaborative solutions that leverage each communities unique assets to address the most pressing and critical needs they face.