Over the past several months, Chris Zahas and Leland Consulting Group staff have been working with Vela Environmental to evaluate opportunities and identify strategic actions to attract investment to Sheridan, Wyoming’s North Main Street corridor. Like many corridors across the U.S., North Main was the former entry to Sheridan’s historic downtown, but has been bypassed by nearby I-90, leaving it a mix of residential, retail, lodging, and light industrial uses, with many vacancies and underutilized properties. Through stakeholder outreach and economic analysis, a strategy was developed that will guide public and private actions to create a signature gateway open space at the entry to town, target new investment at several catalyst “nodes” along the corridor, and develop a sustainable funding and organizational strategy to ensure ongoing implementation over the long term. Developed for the North Main Association (www.northmainassociation.org), the strategy was adopted by the Sheridan City Council on November 5, 2012.
The Taste of Sheridan is a signature annual event on the North Main corridor and was one of the project’s key stakeholder outreach opportunities.