Downtown Metuchen receives Great American Main Street award, only third town in New Jersey to receive such an honor
By Hailey Ruderman
Downtown Metuchen was one of three areas recently awarded the 2023 Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) by Main Street America.
I don’t know how to put this, but I’m kind of a big deal. ANCHORMAN’S RON BURGUNDY
Metuchen is the big deal. Only two other downtowns in New Jersey – Westfield and Montclair – have previously received the honor.
With a population of 14,780 and growing, the borough has made a name for itself. Thousands of residents use the Metuchen local train and bus stations to travel to New York City, Philadelphia or Northern New Jersey.
According to njtod.org, “Foundational work occurred in the 1980s when Rutgers University students worked with community members to create a revitalization plan for downtown Metuchen that focused on clustered retail and residential development.”
The revitalization plan included a new zoning law to keep retail spaces and strip malls out of the downtown area.
Many local businesses, including a pizzeria and a hardware store, shut down on a six-acre lot, which was abandoned for years after.
In 2008, the town of Metuchen received a Smart Future grant of $50,000, according to njtod.org. The grant was to continue the town’s public outreach to support the redevelopment of the area.
“When we started [building the area], the town was divided,” Isaac Kremer recalled.
Kremer is the former executive director of the Metuchen Downtown Alliance (MDA).
“Many were unsure that a Main Street program was needed. Some feared it would be another layer of bureaucracy that would make things harder for businesses,” he said. “The new development, while it brought new residents and their spending power, there were concerns what impact this would have on the small-town community character.”
Soon after in 2012, Woodmont Properties won a contract to redevelop the site to turn it into a mixed-use development, called Woodmont Metro, according to njtod.org. This redevelopment helped the downtown area flourish into what it is now.
Pearl Street Piazza was then introduced to the planning board in 2014. Two hundred seventy-three residential rental units as well as 12,000 square feet of retail space were proposed.
“The difference between [Metuchen] today and when we started is night and day,” Kremer said. “In 2016, we did not have much activity. On the first Small Business Saturday that year our volunteers were thrilled to see people downtown and shopping on a Saturday. Today, that is a regular occurrence. In 2016, Metuchen was a sleepy commuter town with not a lot happening. Today, nearly every store on Main Street is filled with only one or two exceptions.”
Every year since 1995, Main Street America recognizes Main Street communities who serve as a model for preservation based-commercial district revitalization with the Great American Main Street Award, according to mainstreet.org.
The communities that are eligible to apply to this award are “all accredited Main Street America programs with an active Main Street membership and that have not previously won,” said Alicia Gallo, senior manager of Strategic Communications at Main Street America.
The award is nation-wide, meaning all towns that have an established Main Street America Program can enter. There have been 109 winners since 1995, and almost every state has a town that has won.
The applications are evaluated by a national jury of industry professionals and local leaders in the field of economic development and historic preservation.
The criteria that the jury looks for when going over the applications are inclusive community engagement in the design and implementation of programs; impactful collaboration with public and private sector partners; the generation of economic impact through small business creation, preservation, resiliency, and growth; commitment to the preservation of historically significant physical places, public spaces, legacy communities, and cultural heritage; strength in organization leadership and sustainability and creating a welcoming downtown for residents, visitors and community members, according to mainstreet.org.
“The application for the award includes questions about the communities, opportunities, challenges, historic preservation, ethic, and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion,” Kremer said, adding the process continues with an intense interview process, finalizing in a final interview with the jury.
The MDA was specifically selected for its work to revitalize Metuchen’s Main Street, create innovative programming, and introduce downtown management. Moreover, the MDA was recognized for leaning into inclusive events – such as Lunar New Year, the Hispanic Heritage Celebration, Juneteenth, and Pride on the Plaza – while maintaining Metuchen’s historic, small- town character.
During the past seven years, the MDA has worked to improve signage and storefronts; celebrate Metuchen’s increasingly diverse population and businesses; create placemaking; and support the buy-local experience through themed promotions and events developed to drive traffic to downtown businesses.
When the MDA was established in 2016, the business district had an over 20% vacancy rate.
Now vacancies are at a single-digit, all-time low, and Metuchen is regularly receiving national recognition – most recently when American Girl introduced its 2023 Girl of the Year doll, Kavi Sharma, as a Metuchen tween who is proud of her Indian-American heritage and likes to take the train into New York from Metuchen’s downtown station.
Today’s downtown Metuchen balances old and new. You’ll find traditional businesses like a classic ice-cream parlor alongside a Dominican bakery run by a French Culinary Institute graduate, home goods sourced from Brooklyn, N.Y. and the United Kingdom and a wide variety of top-rated restaurants reflective of the diverse area.
“Metuchen Downtown Alliance’s recognition as a 2023 GAMSA winner provides our national network of Main Street communities with an inspiring model of success,” Gallo said. “Some attributes include Metuchen’s excellence in creating a welcoming, walkable, and inclusive downtown through innovative and family-friendly programming, as well as their unwavering commitment to transparent, inclusive place activation, and ‘shop local’ community identity.”
Kremer said the greatest impact of the award is “the inspiration it provides other communities to innovate, learn, grow and achieve more.”
“There were over 1,900 people at the Main Street Now conference who saw the video and the announcement,” he said. “If Metuchen was able to do this in six years, it sets a powerful example for other communities to follow. Don’t get me wrong, the award is great. Even better is [for the downtown] to continue to innovate, inspire, learn and grow.”
And current MDA executive director Dawn Mackey is doing just that.
“[Isaac] brought a significant expertise in the Main Street approach that paired perfectly with the most tenacious, and talented group of volunteers,” she said. “This resulted in an extraordinary trajectory for Metuchen. To achieve this recognition in a short six years is truly awe inspiring. As an outsider with intimate insight into other small downtowns, I can confidently say what Metuchen has is incredibly unique and the secret ingredient here is the community.
“When volunteers, the municipality, landlords and businesses put their hearts into one mission the results are pure magic. I could not be more proud of the work this team has done and am excited for this opportunity to introduce Metuchen, officially as a Great American Main Street. I can’t wait to see what’s next.”
