Great Streets Awards Ceremony!
Join us on Monday to learn which RIA businesses will be receiving grants to improve their buildings and businesses! For more information about the Great Streets Small Business Capital Improvement grants, visit DMPED‘s Great Streets website. And congratulations to the winners!...
Read MoreRhode Island Avenue Main Street – Some FAQs
Earlier this year, the DC Council included funds for a Rhode Island Avenue Main Street program in the FY2014 budget. By the end of July, a request for applications was released by the Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD) to solicit applications from non-profit organizations to manage the program. The application closing date was August 28th, and the announcement of the organization selection is expected to happen in September. FoRIA submitted an application, and we’re eagerly awaiting the final decision. This is an amazing opportunity for all of the residents and businesses along the RIA-NE corridor. We’ve received a lot of questions the Main Street program, so we thought we’d take a minute to share the questions we’ve been asked, and our responses. • What is a “Main Street program”? The National Main Street program has been in existence for over 30 years, and it is part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In 2002, the DC Main Streets program was created through the national program, and it is managed by DSLBD. In 2012 alone, the DC Main Streets Program contributed some impressive numbers to the local economy: Net Job Gain: 471 Net new businesses: 29 Rehabilitation projects completed: 31 Value – Private: $51,981,000 Public improvement projects completed: 2 Value – Public: $2,740,000 At its core, the Main Street program is essentially a tool, or template, that is used to strengthen and revitalize traditional commercial corridors. Historically, when “big box” stores and strip malls go into small towns in rural America, those communities would lose their downtown areas – their town squares or central “Main Street” district. Urban neighborhoods were seeing the same trend, as the suburbs expanded with malls and other retail destinations. Some beautiful and historic architecture was being lost in these areas, and the National Trust saw an opportunity to not only save historic buildings, but to really provide communities with the tools to save their downtowns. So the National Trust developed The Main Street Four Point Approach® to community revitalization, and the Main Street program was created. • What is the “The Main Street Four Point Approach®”? The Main Street Four Point Approach® refers to 4 areas of focus: Design – which means getting the area in top physical shape. Capitalizing on the assets, like historic buildings. But it also means creating an inviting atmosphere through improved landscaping, street/sidewalk infrastructure improvements, window displays, signage, etc., to convey a visual message about what a community’s Main Street is all about and what it has to offer. Promotion – selling the image – and promise – of a community’s Main Street. It means marketing the area’s unique characteristics to shoppers, investors, visitors, and new businesses. For our community, that means events like Fall Fest, which is all about getting the community to spend time on RIA and to begin seeing it again as a preferred destination. It means creating promotional material to attract new businesses and new customers. Economic Restructuring – this is about helping existing businesses expand, and recruiting new ones to respond to the market needs. It is about creating a cohesive business retention strategy that is more than just pushing for new businesses to open – it is about really understanding the market and being able to build an economically vibrant Main Street where the businesses thrive because they are in the right market for their product. Organization – this is pretty much the backbone of the Main Street program. It creates a cohesive program by getting everyone working towards the same goal. This means...
Read MoreWMATA schedules public meetings for RIA/Baltimore Ave bus lines
WMATA has scheduled the first round of public meetings for the Metrobus Rhode Island Avenue-Baltimore Avenue Corridor Study to solicit input from riders to identify and evaluate transit service problems in order to develop improvements for the bus routes (G8, 81, 82, 83, 84, 86, and T18) operating in the corridor. The meetings are the next step in the project, which started soliciting public input earlier this summer with a ridership survey. The public meetings are open to all members of the public, and no advance registration is required. These meetings will be “open house” style. Participants may arrive any time between 6:00 pm and 7:30 pm, as no presentation will be given. Instead, participants will be able to review display boards and speak individually with the project team about rider survey results and service issues and concerns. This feedback will lead to the development of service improvement options for the corridor, so please don’t miss this opportunity to share your thoughts and your transportation needs with WMATA! The meetings will be held on the following dates at the locations listed below: Monday, September 23, 2013 Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Neighborhood Library Rhode Island Avenue & 7th Street NW Washington, DC 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm Tuesday, September 24, 2013 The View, Senior Community 9th Floor, Crawford Hall 635 Edgewood Street NE Washington, DC 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm Thursday, September 26, 2013 Hyattsville City Hall, Municipal Building 1st Floor, Multipurpose Room 4310 Gallatin Street Hyattsville, MD 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm ...
Read MoreFoRIA & Future Rhode Island Ave Main Street featured on WeLoveDC.com podcast
Many thanks to WeLoveDC and writer/podcaster Tom Bridge for including FoRIA in the inaugural podcast of the popular DC news and lifestyle blog. Tom and Kyle Todd, Executive Director of FoRIA, sat down to talk about what a Main Street program is, and how it can benefit Rhode Island Avenue. We’ll be posting more information about Main Street programs soon, so be sure to check back to learn more about this exciting program for our community. The FoRIA part of the part of the podcast comes about 2/3 of the way through the show, but listen to the whole thing! Great coverage of some really interesting and talented arts and entertainment here in the District. Click here to...
Read MoreDDOT Starting Work on Bridge to RIA Metro Station
With construction starting Monday, August 19 there will soon be a new bridge connecting Rhode Island Ave Metro with the Edgewood neighborhood and the Met Branch Trail. Construction is expected to take 16 – 18 months, putting completion around Dec 2014 – Feb 2015. This is exciting news for folks in Edgewood! This means if you’re walking from Edgewood Terrace or the Big Lots (from the northwest), you no longer have to walk under the tracks, next to fast moving traffic on a narrow sidewalk, then up a long, winding ramp up to the Metro station entrance. You’d instead go to the Met Branch Trail entrance off the parking lot and walk up those steps to the Metro. DDOT has put up a website to track this project, which you should be sure to check back on over the next 16 – 18 months: www.rhodeislandavepedbridge.com All photos...
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