Main Street in downtown Franklin, TN. Photo via Flickr.
Franklin, TN’s historic Main Street is more than a pretty place. It exemplifies Franklin’s historic heritage and has become the heart of the city’s new economy.
“We like to say we’re a community that balances preservation with growth,” says Franklin Mayor Ken Moore. Moore is on the Advisory Board of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council, a nonpartisan group of municipal officials who share a passion for building great towns, cities, and communities. As a member of the Local Leaders Council, Moore is one of many elected leaders across the country using smart growth strategies to help their hometowns generate better return on taxpayer investment and compete in today’s economy.
Upholding Franklin’s local character and heritage is important to the city and its residents. Working in partnership with property owners, preservationists, city and county government, local businesses and merchants in the city’s historic downtown, Franklin has created the conditions to make one of the country’s best Main Street success stories possible.
“The preservation community worked with the business folks to redevelop the entire downtown Main Street area,” Moore explains, “which involved undergrounding utilities, upgrading infrastructure, and for many of them upgrading the facades on their businesses. Now it’s a place that people love to walk, have a cup of coffe, have lunch, and also we’d like them to go in and spend a little money.”
“We see that when we develop gateways – whether it’s Main Street or the gateway into our city – redoing those areas with sidewalks and infrastructure and plantings and beautification leads to more economic development.”
In October, Mayor Moore was one of several Tennessee leaders who came together for a a full day summit examining transportation in middle Tennessee. Learn more about how Franklin is using smart growth strategies at the city’s Department of Planning and Sustainability website.
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