Why is the Downtown important?
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Downtown is a symbol of:
- community economic health,
- partnership between the private and the public sector,
- local quality of life,
- local pride,
- community history.
It's an important factor for industrial, commercial and professional recruitment.
- Downtown serves as a good incubator for new small businesses - the success of tomorrow. Strips and malls are often too expensive for new entrepreneurs. Lower rents make downtown a good location.
- Downtown represents independent businesses which:
- support local families.
- support local community projects such as teams and schools.
- keep profits in town (chain stores draw profits out of town).
- Downtown helps reduce sprawl by concentrating activity in one area.
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- Downtown is a major employer. Often when you count the number of jobs in a community, you will find that downtown is the largest employer.
- The infrastructure downtown is a major public investment. Only healthy businesses in buildings assessed at full value generate taxes that give taxpayers a return on this public investment.
- A revitalized downtown protects property values in surrounding residential neighborhoods.
- Rehabilitation work in the downtown stimulates the local economy. Materials and labor for new commercial construction often come from out of town.
- Downtown is the heart of the community, and the site for government, arts, churches, and financial institutions.
- Downtown is an important community space, where members of all segments of the community can meet equally for parades, speeches and other community events.
- Downtown can be a tourist attraction, and is the location of a community's unique businesses and buildings.
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For generations "Downtown Eastport" has been the center of economic activity and social life in this town. It began as a ship building community, and later became an important fish processing center that harnessed the ocean's might. Factory workers' homes spilled from the waterfront, as shops, music halls, and the railroad made the town an economic center. The people of Eastport not only shopped in their downtown, but celebrated with parades and festivals. Times may change, but people don't. Downtown Eastport can be the center of our town's life and community spirit again.
Everyone in our community is welcome and encouraged to join us and help make our downtown reflect all the talent and beauty of our town, Eastport.
Thanks to ALL of the volunteers, donors and supporters who are helping to make this possible.
Together we can better our community,
for an Eastport of which we can all be proud.
