Main Street Assessments and Consultations
Turn your downtown into a destination
Uncover your downtown's hidden potential. Chart a clear path to transformation.
Our comprehensive assessment reveals what’s elevating your district and what’s holding it back.
You’ll receive the insights you need to attract investment, secure funding, and create a destination worth celebrating.
How We Help You See What Others Miss
We don’t just observe your downtown. We experience it. Our team immerses themselves in your community from morning to evening, walking your streets as residents, visitors, and potential business owners would. We shop, stroll, meander, and genuinely participate in the rhythm of your downtown to understand the full story your district is telling.
Through this multi-sensory approach, we evaluate the physical environment, measure emotional engagement, and identify the gaps between where you are and where you want to be. Resulting in actionable recommendations tailored to your goals, your location, and your capabilities.
And yes, we’re sensitive to budgets and small staff, so we stay around to help you figure out how to get the work done. We don’t just hand you a report and disappear. We partner with you on implementation strategies that work within your constraints.
What we Assess
Physical Assets & Infrastructure
- Storefronts and building facades
- Signage and wayfinding systems
- Streetscape elements (lighting, benches, planters, waste receptacles, bike racks)
- Decorative features (awnings, banners, community clocks, sculptures)
- Parking areas and accessibility
Placemaking & Experience
- Green spaces, parklets, and gathering areas
- Street art and water features
- Landscaping and seasonal décor
- Music, aroma, and sensory atmosphere
- Overall vibrancy and street energy
Opportunity Zones
- Vacant storefronts and empty lots
- Underutilized alleyways
- Temporary activation potential (pop-ups, kiosks, food trucks)
- Notable geography and natural features
Brand & Identity
- Community information and directories
- Historical character and thematic cohesion
- Overall maintenance and cleanliness
- Visitor experience flow and engagement touchpoints
Are Your Messages Getting Through?
Our branding and messaging experts evaluate your logo, tagline, signage, icons, and graphics to determine if they’re effectively reflecting and supporting your community’s goals.
We’ll assess whether your visual identity is working to attract investment, engage residents, and tell a compelling story that opens doors to funding opportunities.
The goal is to determine whether your downtown/city brand truly connects with your target audiences and advances your revitalization efforts.
What You Receive
You will receive a strategic roadmap that prioritizes improvements based on impact, feasibility, and funding potential.
We help you identify quick wins that build momentum alongside longer-term transformations that attract sustainable investment.
Our recommendations are designed to strengthen grant applications, engage stakeholders, and demonstrate measurable progress to your community and municipal partners.
We salute the “indies” (the independent store owner). The fourth+ generation merchant. The shopkeeper who hung out their shingle with blind hope. We hail to the Main Street directors, the BID directors, the economic development professionals, the thoughtful developers, and the city planners who recognize the value of a vibrant downtown. We thank the bankers, the landlords, and the elected politicians who said, “yes” not because, “We live here, too”, but because they know a bustling downtown is bigger than all of us.
“Just want to thank you one more time for all the help you gave our business here on Greenfield Avenue. I have heard nothing but great things.”
Dianne Eineichner
Executive Director of Downtown West Allis Business Improvement District