Issue Position: Main Street

Issue Position

Historic downtowns are the heart and soul of Kansas communities. Yet across our state these once-bustling corridors have suffered from years of disinvestment caused by retirements, population loss, and changes in shopping patterns. More broadly, access to basic services--like being able to go to a grocery store--has been eroded across our state. The Kelly Administration believes that rural downtowns can be brought back to life through a focus on three key strategies:

Provide incentives for capital investments of at least $20,000 in structures on commercial corridors in communities of 25,000 or less.

Recruit artists to rural Kansas. The creative sector is a powerful economic driver that has revitalized countless struggling urban neighborhoods, where artists are attracted to large, inexpensive live/work spaces. Rural communities have an abundance of these same spaces, but there's been no coordinated effort to package and market these opportunities to artists seeking the next place to create. The Kelly Administration will coordinate state resources with local partners and private developers to ensure that artists are connected to places where they can live, work and become part of the community fabric.

Support Rural Grocery Stores. Access to healthy food at fair prices is essential to quality of life. Yet across Kansas rural grocery stores are closing. The Kelly Administration will work with local economic development officials; community foundations; the Rural Grocery Initiative at Kansas State University; statewide philanthropies; and grocery store operators to ensure that healthy food is within reach of all Kansans.

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