The Appeal of Main Street America

Can you smell that? Close your eyes and take a deep breath carefully processing the smell of the air as it passes through your nostrils. Are you allowing the fresh mountain air to revitalize you, as you slowly breathe it in? I know I am, as I will continue to do every time I leave the city and travel back to my hometown in the Poconos. Located in northeast Pennsylvania, this section of the state is very much a ski resort town due to the constant flow of tourists looking to escape the surrounding cities - - Philadelphia and NYC. The part of Pennsylvania I live in is to a lot like the towns we have read about in our readings thus far. Although nature and natural landscapes play very importation roles in my hometown, you are just as likely to find strip malls and unnecessarily large parking lots lining the streets here as you are in any other American town. In fact, my hometown does not even have any sidewalks. The automobile dominates the grid landscape. The thought of my town would most likely make people like Kunstler cringe. It was not until I moved to NYC three year ago that the thought of walking to go grocery shopping or clothes shopping ever even crossed my mind. This concept was somewhat foreign to me. In a 15 to 20 mile radius of my house there is only one section of land that you can walk around in on sidewalks and interact with others in a public space. The section I am referring to is Main Street in downtown Stroudsburg, PA. Walking around Main Street on foot makes me feel like I entered a completely new town. It is unlike other sections of land close to my home. However, Main Street has gone through many changes throughout the years. The street I hung out on while growing up is no longer what it once was. Has this change been a good or a bad thing? Is construction and gentrification revitalizing the street or destroying it? These are questions that have been occupying my thoughts lately. I suggest that neither is necessarily true. Yes, the street as I know it and as the people before me have known it has changed, but this change is inevitable as the people living in the area shape the function and purpose of the street. Gentrification neither revitalized nor destroyed Main Street, in downtown Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania; it simply redefined the use of the land.

The approach I use to describe Main Street comes from D.J. Waldie’s book Holy Land. In Holy Land, Waldie writes, “I don’t know why this place is still adequate to my desire. It’s the setting for a story I want to hear told. It’s just the body into which I welcome myself” (Waldie vii). It wasn’t until attempting to write this essay that his words really made sense to me. Waldie finds his hometown to be a strange place to talk about and describe in detail because he recognizes that there is nothing overtly special about it. He knows his town is average and that the townspeople need to make several changes if they want to preserve the landscape. However, it is all that he knows. He has lived in is town his whole life and over time it has grown on him and become a part of him. It is a place where everything good and bad is evened out because no matter what it will always be sacred to him. I can say the same about Main Street. I know and understand the terrain of the land there, better than anywhere else. The sound of the river that runs paralle to the street flows in a familiar pattern to my ears. I can also hear the sound of basketballs dribbling and coaches yelling as I walk past the open gym doors leading into the local YMCA. If I continue walking down the street, I would begin to smell the fresh bagels and breads sold at the local deli, which taste the best when first taken out of the oven at six in the morning. The terrain of the path feels natural under my feet. I know where the bumps and cracks lye and the slope of the land is predictable to me. The carefully arranged storefronts are recognizable even though they change throughout the seasons. The bench in the church courtyard that looks toward the sidewalk offers pedestrians a tranquil place to sit and rest. I know I spent many Sunday afternoons sitting there with friends and/or my parents watching people wonder the streets, eating, conversing, and shopping while I listened to the music projected from the Juke Box music store. To me the grid of the street, although predictable, is just right. It gives me everything I need and want. A place where a car can be parked for the afternoon, so that one can wonder the street and converse with fellow community members and shop owners. Waldie claims, “the grid is the plan above the earth. It is a compass of possibilities” (Waldie 4). If this is true, then the compass turns Main Street into a relaxing public space where shoppers and those looking to casually spend an afternoon and seek comfort.

Main StreetOverall, I know Kunstler would not approve of this layout. Although this place is special to me there are definitely things about that Kunstler’s work has made me think about. For instance, the street has no focal point. There is no square or large open space where the street runs. In fact, the county courthouse and a surrounding green space is located off the beaten path of Main Street. You would have to travel down a few side roads to get to it and these side roads are not exactly pedestrian friendly. This points to another main problem Kunstler would have with the area. Although the town planners designed the landscape mainly for pedestrians, one can strongly feel the presence of cars in the area. Even though there are no large parking lots connected to the street there is lots of curve side parking and heavy automobile traffic ends to clog the roads especially during the winter months. Yet, I think Kunstler would appreciate the feel of the strip nonetheless. All the storefronts directly connect to the sidewalk and have large window displays. Walking down the sidewalk, you feel welcomed to stop and pear through the windows at the merchandise. Furthermore, I think he would enjoy the architecture of the different buildings. While they vary in style, many of them are of a Victorian style. However, nothing gouty covers they. The buildings are decorated in slightly different colors and each as a unique store sign, but this is all done in a tastefully manner; thus, creating a feeling of unison amongst the different buildings. The buildings are all relatively the same height but have different shaped roofs. I think what really ties the street together is the tress, plants, and benches that line it. Together they help foster a welcoming environment. I also believe Kun

stler would acknowledge that good use of space found on the street. What I mean by this is that above each store there are apartments and other offices in use. This puts residents directly in contact with the heart of the downtown area and makes use of two-story buildings, rather than large one-story buildings like Wal-Marts and sprawled out grocery stores.

Over the years the landscape has changed and undergone development and been revitalized through gentrification. Years ago there was more green space and benches to sit one, but has mom and pop stores built up along the street the open green space where people met up and conversed slowly started shrinking. It is interesting to watch this dynamic in play because it causes the function of the landscape to change. Residents starting using Main Street less for recreational interactions and more are commercial reasons. During my childhood the area went through another development stage in which the mom and pop stores and restaurants started giving way to larger chains. For instance, a Starbucks took over a storefront where small sandwich shop use to be. Having a Starbucks in town may not be a big deal to New Yorkers, but to the residents living in and around the area opening a Starbucks was a huge deal. It was, as Kunstler would remark, the begging of the chain store take over. It is similar to the drug store and supermarket takeovers he witnesses in many small American towns. However, this does not necessarily have to be a bad thing. For instance, the Starbucks that opened recently on Main Street has plenty of indoor and outdoor setting for customers to come, get a cup of coffee, and mingle in a private-establishments public space.

Main StreetAlthough the use of the land has changed, the transformations that have occurred have mostly all contributed to keeping Main Street - the downtown area - healthy. According to Kent Robertson in his article Can Small -City Downtown s Remain Viable, “a healthy downtown is an essential element of the prosperity of most suburban small cities” (Robertson). It is the place where the residents gather for community functions and thus, the heritage of the community shines. He goes on to describe how downtowns in the case Main Street need to develop “multiple functions with a strong public/private partnership and a discernable sense of place” (Robertson). Despite the fact that with each new year that passes, the meaning behind the main street of a community declines, I still believe there is hope for Main Street in Stroudsburg, PA. This hope stems from the fact that main streets provide communities with additional economic stability (Macik). The area I have described throughout this essay has continued to function successfully throughout many years of city planning and revitalization tactics because it continues to meet the needs and wants of the people it serves.

This reshaping of the landscape and the environment created because of it sort of reminds me of Jackson’s essay “Place for Fun and Games.” In his essay, Jackson discusses how people shape land and utilizes it in certain ways in order to meet needs of particular desires - such as being one with the waves of the ocean while surfing. Out of the three forms of play - - agon, vernacular, and helix - - one form is not necessarily better than the others. All three are just different because of certain characteristics they posses and the wants they seek to fulfill. The same hold true for Main Street. Over the years different form of landscapes or play if we are following the analogy have shaped the use of the area. Originally it served as the recreational space where families would meet of Sunday afternoons and social or buy groceries. Then the street became more commercial and mom and pop shops starting filling in all the empty lots. Finally larger brand names and chain stores started coming in. Now a combination of all three exists. And the manner in which the residents continue to use the land will shape the formation of the area in the years to come. What amazes me most of all is that throughout the years the charm of the street has remained constant. No matter what developments have taken place the community continues to work hard to ensure the façade of the street buildings match and the atmosphere of the street continues with its traditional old, small town appeal.

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