New York Main Street Program
The Albany County Rural Housing Alliance is in the process of administering a New York
Main Street Program in the Village of Ravena. The purpose of this program is to provide
both financial and technical assistance to help New York communities with their main
street revitalization efforts. The program provides grants to stimulate reinvestment in the
mixed use [commercial/residential,civic] space of the 'main street' buildings in order to
address issues of code compliance, energy conservation, accessibility, and to provide
affordable housing and job opportunities.
The goals of the New York Main Street Program are:
- To revitalize mixed use business centers in rural areas, small town,and
urban areas.
- To act as a catalyst for small business development, thereby increasing
employment and economic activity in traditional downtown or neighborhood
business locations.
- To increase affordable housing opportunities-living over the store' in owner-
occupied or tenant occupied apartments
- To help build the capacity at the local level in order to implement the Main Street
revitalization effort and market the business district to prospective businesses
and residents alike.
- To address code compliance, energy conservation, handicapped accessibility,
and fair housing issues thereby brining vacant commercial space up to code-
making the space useful for new businesses.
- To preserve significant historic buildings and provide an environment that
attracts new investment to and adaptive reuse of historic buildings for new
enterprises on Main Street.
- To facilitate a planning process that ensures that the projects funded with Main
Street funding enhance the economics of the business district and the aesthetics
through appropriate design that complements the historic architecture of the
target area.
The New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal will provide technical
assistance throughout the administration of the Village of Ravena Main Street Program to
the village and to the Albany County Rural Housing Alliance either directly or by utilizing
outside consultants.
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