Union Square Main Streets is a community development organization in
Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area o ...
that aims to enhance the
Union Square
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
area's commercial viability through collaborative efforts in design, promotion, economic restructuring, transportation, and organization.
Initiated by Mayor
Joseph Curtatone in 2005, Union Square Main Streets is a non-profit, public-private partnership between the City of Somerville, the
National Main Street Center
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
, Union Square business leaders, residents and community leaders. The city's first community-based economic revitalization program provides merchants and community residents with the tools for the neighborhood to advance its own redevelopment.
It is the local implementation of the
Main Street model developed by the
National Trust for Historic Preservation for downtown district revitalization. Begun in 1977 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation initially to protect historic commercial architecture, the Main Street model is a comprehensive revitalization strategy to stimulate economic development in traditional commercial districts like Union Square. Currently the National Main Street Center administers the program in 40 states and over 1600 communities in the US, most notably with a citywide network of Main Street districts in Boston. The Main Street model is a framework for restoring a community's economic vitality then maintaining these positive changes.
Among the organization's efforts are the Union Square Farmers Market (every Saturday morning from June through October), ArtsUnion (a collaborative program with the Somerville Arts Council that sponsors festivals, craft markets, street furniture and more), and business recruitment and assistance.
When planning for an
extension of the Green Line between the
East Cambridge
East Cambridge is a neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Referred to in modern times as Area 1, East Cambridge is bounded by the Charles River and the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston on the east, the Somerville border on the north, Bro ...
neighborhood and
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
, Union Square Main Streets contributed to the successful push by local politicians to attract state and federal funding to add a spur into the Union Square neighborhood, with work design and construction work progressing as of February 2019.
References
External links
Union Square Main Streets website
Somerville, Massachusetts
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