Repairing Main Street for the twenty-first century

All through history towns and cities have had main roads where there was a greater concentration of businesses, public buildings, religious buildings and residences. To the community, what was often called main street was not just a place to carry on business but a place to meet, gossip and exchange ideas. Because of single-use zoning, scattered development and the car’s particular needs, the strip lacks the communal gathering possibilities of main street. This thesis explores how to reintroduce communal aspects to a main road in the suburban context where structure has been eroded by strip development. The method used is to repair linkages between the road and the immediate neighborhood and to form public places, enabling the community to gather there.