There's been a flurry of activity at Connecticut Main Street Center as things have ramped up with the arrival of Spring. Below are updates on a number of initiatives we're working on.

Corridor Advisory Committee (CAC) - As you may recall, at the request of CT Dept. of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker CERC, CMSC, Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG) and the South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG) convened municipal officials from towns with transit stations along the New Haven/Hartford/Springfield commuter rail and CTfastrak busway. The group convened in February and continues to meet on a regular basis. The group recently surveyed itself to determine their priorities and found top issues include financing tools for transit village development, strategies to link these projects with Complete Streets policy and activities, and the "last mile challenge" of getting from the train or bus to home or work without a car.  The CAC will continue to focus on these issues in upcoming meetings.

Transit Village Workshop- One result of the CAC meetings was the recognition for more information and discussion around what transit village development roles can currently be met in Connecticut, and which are still needed. To facilitate this discussion, CMSC will host select municipal and State leaders invited by ConnDOT Commissioner Redeker to a workshop on determining Connecticut's current and potential transit village capacity in late June.

2013 CMSC Award Winners Announced - The 2013 Awards of Excellence winners were announced on May 1. Click here to see the full list. Also announced in the last issue of Downtown Update was winner of this year's CL&P Award, Toni Gold. The Awards Gala celebrating these wonderful achievements will be held on June 10th at the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Radio & Press - The accomplishments of CMSC and its member network have been getting a lot of attention lately and CMSC staff were asked to participate on radio programs twice in the last month. John Simone and Diane Smith, Program Development Officer for the Connecticut Housing

CMSC's John Simone and Diane Smith from CHFA meet with Sam Gingerella to talk about the Come Home to Downtown program on Face Connecticut.

Finance Authority (CHFA) recently sat down with 

Sam Gingerella of WTIC's Face Connecticut to talk about the  Come Home to Downtown program. CMSC recently announced the selection of the model buildings and their owners that will receive customized technical assistance on how to redevelop these buildings into mixed-use development. John and Diane's segment will air this Sunday, May 19 at 6:00 am on WTIC 1080.  In case you miss it, you can listen to it online here.

In addition, Kimberley Parsons-Whitaker was recently on WDRC's Talk of Connecticut with Mary Jones. Kim spoke with Mary about CMSC's Four Point Approach and how we assist our member network in achieving their individual community's goals for downtown management. You can listen to Kim's interview on the CMSC website.

The hard work and innovative accomplishments of the 2013 Awards of Excellence winners was also noticed. The Hartford Courant even wrote an editorial praising Toni Gold for her years of service after learning she won the CL&P award.

2012 Annual Report - CMSC is also pleased to present its first comprehensive annual report. This document is full of information on CMSC's programs and member network, as well as providing highlights and activity from our workshops, Awards Gala and financials. There's an in-depth look at the life of a Main Street organization, from the young and active Thread City Development in Willimantic to the mature and proactive Simsbury Main Street Partnership. See the 2012 Annual Report here.