Despite the revitalization of nearby neighborhoods, Main Street continued to languish and was widely perceived as unsafe and in a state of decline. Though the area was busy during the day with business people in the commercial downtown, it emptied out at night and on weekends. The city had found it difficult to encourage people to live there because there were so few affordable options. Knowing they needed to revitalize Main Street to become an attractive place to live, work, and play, the city decided to adopt a creative placemaking approach and support the growth of a larger arts community in the area as a means to spur economic development.