Main Street
In the general sense, the term "Main Street" refers to a place of small-town traditional values, usually in contrast to big-city modernity.
The locale was "Gopher Prairie," presented as an 'ideal type' of the Midwestern town, and the heroine, Carol Kennicott, was a more urbane, 'ideal-typical' Progressive.
For example, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the outfit that operates the PX and BX stores on military bases, chose the name "Main Street USA" for its food courts.
Main Street was a popular term during the economic crises in 2008 and 2009: the proposed bailout of U.S. financial system, the 2008 US presidential campaign, and debates.
These areas, which are designed to look like the main street of a small town, house gift shops, restaurants and various services, along with park offices on the second floors.
At Tokyo Disneyland the area is named "World Bazaar," but has the same look as Main Street, albeit housed under a decorative glass roof for protection from Japan's unpredictable weather.
Disney wanted to embed the values and memories associated with life in small towns into an entertainment experience for tourists.
Some of these schemes may have suffered from sufficient lack of interest or impact due to for example, business owners insurance and security issues regarding separate occupiers above for LOTS projects, and general lack of finance and familiarity with residential projects and landlordism, and depressed interest of the general public in returning to town and village centre living in the modern era.
In a similar stream, it has been noted in the past, e.g. in the UK by its national print media, that '24/7' full Pedestrianisation of town centres and main streets can lead to passive security issues and fear of use in night time hours.
This could be in cooperation with Local Authorities, state agencies, and private owners (e.g. subsidised external fabric refurbishments of derelict/ semi-derelict terraced buildings), and potentially project-led led by in-house expertise from for example, the LDA (Land Development Agency), and local Architects/ County Councils, or Heritage Council/ OPW (Office of Public Works), etc.
The Urban Institute of Ireland (based in UCD), and the School of Environment and Planning (in DIT) could also help in terms of academic basis, research and development.
This is noting for example, that a report (2016 Pobal HP Deprivation Index) published in November 2007 by Pobal (an intermediary organisation for funding from the Irish government and the EU) found that 'Small towns (1,000 – 5,000 people) have been the worst effected over the past ten years, being disproportionately hit by the recession and benefiting less from the recovery than the most urban and the most rural areas.'
