Nestled alongside Ford Lake, our downtown evokes all the best of small-town life. Our locally owned businesses truly define customer service, while our vibrant events bring our home to life. We invite you to explore this amazing place, learn about our vision, and become a part of our future.
There are plenty of communities that are planning. In Milan, we are doing.
You owe it to yourself to discover downtown Milan. It’s Happening!
The mission of Milan Main Street (DDA) is to restore vitality to our downtown through community efforts including volunteers, business and property owners, and public and private partnerships.
Milan is one of less than 30 communities in the state of Michigan to be recognized as part of the Michigan Main Street program. The Main Street program utilizes a Four Point Approach that includes Design, Promotions, Organization, and Economic Vitality.
All of the committees and the staff of Milan Main Street/DDA function under a governing board of city officials, business owners and appointed members of the local community.
Development Plan + Tax Increment Financing Plan for City of Milan Downtown Development Authority:
For more information, contact
Jessica Meingasner, Executive Director:
Milan is a Master level community in Michigan Main Street, an official affiliate of The National Main Street Center (Main Street America), which is committed to creating high-quality places and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development.
Milan is a nationally accredited Main Street community.
Michigan Main Street (MMS) assists communities interested in revitalizing and preserving their traditional commercial district. The program provides technical assistance for communities desiring to develop their own local Main Street program by utilizing the Main Street Approach™ – a common-sense approach to tackling the complex issues of revitalization by capitalizing on downtown’s history and identifying the unique assets of the community itself.
Established in 1980 as a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Main Street Center works with a nationwide network of coordinating programs and local communities to encourage preservation-based community revitalization, and has equipped more than 2,000 older commercial districts with the skills, and organizing framework they need for renewal during its 34-year history. An exciting new chapter for the organization began on July 1, 2013 when the National Main Street Center, Inc. launched as an independent subsidiary of the National Trust. This transition enables Main Street to build on its three-decade record of success, with new leadership and new resources that will help communities respond to evolving needs and opportunities in the commercial district revitalization field.
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As a nonprofit organization, the National Main Street Center Inc., provides information, offers technical assistance, holds conferences and workshops, and conducts research and advocacy on critical revitalization issues. The provenMain Street Four-Point Approach® provides a framework for communities to organize themselves for success, improve the design of their neighborhoods, promote their district, and enhance the economic base of a community. Cumulatively, commercial districts taking part in the Main Street program have spurred the rehabilitation of more than 246,000 buildings, and generated $59.6 billion in new investment, with a net gain of more than 502,728 new jobs, and over 115,000 new businesses. Every dollar a community uses to support its local Main Street program leverages an average of $18 in new investment, making Main Street one of the most successful economic development strategies in America. These community benefits would not be possible without the training, education, and leadership of the National Main Street Center.
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Main Street offers a revitalization framework appropriate for communities of all types – including commercial districts in urban neighborhoods, rural towns, and smaller and mid-sized cities. Local Main Street programs can be established either as freestanding organizations or as part of an existing entity, such as a community development corporation or economic development organization. Working in conjunction with a state, city or county-wide Main Street Coordinating Program, or directly with the National Main Street Center, local Main Street programs plan and implement projects that create more vibrant and healthy commercial districts.