Main Street
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the Sinclair Lewis novel, see Main Street (novel).
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 shops and retailers in the city centre, and is most often used in reference to retailing.
Main Street is commonly used in the United States, Canada, some parts of Scotland and also in some countries in central Europe (e.g. Slovakia and 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.
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[edit] 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 businessmen, 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 (United States) was sometimes divided between "Wall Street" (liberal) and "Main Street Republican" (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:
- 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. Main Street USA is also present at Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland, while at Tokyo Disneyland the area is named "World Bazaar," but has the same look as Main Street.
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. The Killers hit track "Read my mind" uses the word "main street" as its opening lyric.
[edit] 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.
[edit] International equivalents
- In Hong Kong, "Main Street" can be translated in Chinese into "Ching Kai" (正街) or "Tai Kai" (大街). However the actual "正街", in Hong Kong, officially "Centre Street" is a branch road off Sheung Wan District.
- In England, the terms "Market Street" or "Market Place" are often used to designate the heart of a town or city, as is the more common High Street (certainly in newer urban developments, or towns or cities which were not original market towns). High Street is often the name of a fairly busy street with small shops on either side, often in towns and villages.
- In Sweden, almost all towns and cities have their own main street, a street called "Storgatan" (literally, "The big street"). They are typically surrounded by stores and restaurants, and open for pedestrians only, where no vehicles are allowed.
- Many Canadian cities and towns also have Main Streets, such as Vancouver, Toronto, and Markham. Saint Lawrence Boulevard, which divides Montreal between east and west, is unofficially known as "the Main."
