Main Street
This article is about the street; for the Sinclair Lewis novel, see Main Street (novel)
Main Street is the generic name (and sometimes the official name) of the primary business street of a small town in the United States and Canada. The equivalent in the United Kingdom is High street.
Cultural importance
In the North American media, "Main Street," or the interests of small businessmen, is sometimes contrasted with "Wall Street" (in the United States) or "Bay Street" (in Canada), symbolizing the interests of corporate capitalism.
"Main Street" is part of the iconography of American life. Examples include:
- In the United States, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the outfit that operates the PX and BX stores on military bases, chose the name "Main Street USA" for its food courts.
- The novel Main Street, a critique of small town life, was penned by the great American writer Sinclair Lewis.
- Two Walt Disney Company amusement parks, Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and the Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, both have "Main Street USA" sections immediately at their front. Such areas are designed to look like the main street of a small town.
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 wholistic approach to revitalization based on the "4-point" approach of design, promotions, economic restructuring, and organization. Originally targeted at small, traditional downtowns, the program now encompasses sections of large urban centers.
International equivalents
- In the German cultural and language bloc in Central Europe (Austria, Germany, and Switzerland), there is a "Bahnhofstrasse" (literally, "railroad station street") in many towns and cities. In some of them (notably Zurich), Bahnhofstrasse is the actual equivalent of Main Street.
- Hong Kong officials, under British rule, usually translate Chinese Ching Kai (正街) or Tai Kai (大街) as Main Street. These main streets were usually the largest street of a village or town.