Allston Village Main Streets cleans up Allston

3/25/08There are new many new things in Allston these days: new storefronts, new public trash cans, and a new mural. All the result of the efforts of one organization - Allston Village Main Streets.

Allston Village Main Streets (AVMS), formed in 1996, is part of the country's first city-wide, multi-district Main Street revitalization program. It's a non-profit, public-private partnership between the City of Boston, the National Main Street Center and neighborhood stakeholders, according to the program's website.

Katie Reed, executive director of AVMS, said, "The Main Streets model is actually a national model that started in the late 1970's. It started in a lot of small towns because small towns were losing their historic downtowns to shopping malls and big retailers on the outskirts of cities." AVMS is one of nineteen such programs in the Boston area.

The AVMS centers around three goals according to Reed: to promote the neighborhood, make Allston a more attractive neighborhood and work on economic restructuring.

n order to accomplish its first goal of promoting the neighborhood, AVMS holds a variety of events. A Taste of Allston promotes Allston's restaurants. It features an international array of foods, a cash bar, silent auction and live music.

AVMS also hosts an event series entitled Rock the Village, featuring the Rock City Prom and the Rock City Style Show. Reed said, "At the Style Show, we feature local bands and apparel and housewares sold in the neighborhood. We want to raise awareness of the neighborhood and to promote what we have here so that people who aren't aware of what Allston has to offer can learn so they'll shop in local businesses and promote the neighborhood."

The new storefronts, trash cans and mural are part of AVMS' goal to make Allston more attractive. Reed said the organization has helped to redesign about 30 storefronts in the area including Scissor Sound on Harvard Avenue, Spike's Junkyard Dogs on Brighton Avenue and Whitehorse Tavern on Brighton Avenue.

Farhad Fakhroldini, the owner of the recently redesigned 2nd Cup Café on Brighton Avenue said, "Allston Village Main Streets helped us with our awning. They got a grant for it and helped me get involved with the city of Boston."

"Allston Village Main Streets was excellent, super super helpful," he said. " Katie Reed would come to us. She would walk here to help us out."

For their third goal of economic restructuring, AVMS hosts the Allston Open Networking Events and the Washington Allston Birthday Breakfast. The Washington Allston Birthday Breakfast works to simultaneously celebrate the painter after whom Allston was named and allow businesses in the area to network. The event, held at the Harvard Business School, features a well known speaker and allows people who own businesses in the area to come together and learn about what's going on in the neighborhood.

In order to celebrate the life of Washington Allston, Reed said this year "a performance artist from Cambridge dressed up as Washington Allston and painted reproductions of his paintings." AVMS also provides those who attend the event with information regarding Allston's life and a portrait of the painter on the brochure.

Reed said all AVMS works to give people an idea of what's available in Allston. "People have their own opinions like I'm not a student, so I can't go to Allston, but what people need to realize is that this is an incredibly diverse district," she said.

Tierney Moll, an Allston resident, said, "I think it's really respectable that there is an organization that's making an attempt to fix things in the neighborhood. When things look better, people don't want to damage them."

She said, "I'd rather live in a place that looks nice because I know I'll feel safer and feel more comfortable getting to know others in the area."

Reed said that Moll's feelings fit right into the overall programming of AVMS. "We are generally working towards not gentrifying Allston but working to clean it up a bit so people will respect it more, so it can be a more accessible place because we really do have something for everyone here," she said.