Muskegon (pop. 4604*) - Designated 2004
*Muskegon Municipal Population 40,105
Annual Budget: $153,912

Muskegon entered the Michigan Main Street program at a very interesting point in its downtown's history in 2004. The downtown Muskegon Mall had just been razed, all retail had moved to the new suburban mall, and the community was suffering a crisis in confidence as its most visible asset, its downtown, was not really presentable. Muskegon Main Street, with help from the Michigan Main Street Center, has become the glue that aided a wide ranging group of stakeholders, and the entire community, to invest in their downtown and turn it in the right direction. Just a few years later there has been a complete turn around as a plan was established and implemented to return the downtown to its historic Main Street feel. Infrastructure has been completed, rehabilitation and infill development has created space for a return of retail, highlighted by arts and entertainment, and the community now has trust, confidence, and pride in their downtown again.

The Michigan Main Street Center played an important role in this transformation by helping define the vision and creating the strategic structure that is laying the foundation for a sustainable, healthy downtown into the future.