Keene, New Hampshire, USA

Defining Main Street: The Candy Store. Happy Valentine's Day! Did you remember? If not, better head to your Main Street candy shop. Have you noticed how candy stores are re-appearing in those newly-built town centers that are modeled on streets like this? [2009]

Findlay, Ohio, USA

Defining Main Street: The Grocery Store. General stores gave way to more space-consuming grocery stores which came to be located farther and farther from the main intersections of towns. Remember, the generation of stores that developed right after World War II had to be within walking distance of its customers. Cars were not ubiquitous. [2008]

Burlington, Vermont, USA

Defining Main Street: The Tea Shop. Tea brings the world to Burlington. While tea shops are less common than coffee shops on America's Main Streets, they always add a touch of refinement. Still, they can't keep up with the new trifecta of beverage purveyors: breweries, distilleries, and cideries. [2009]

Boulder City, Nevada, USA

Defining Main Street: The Coffee Shop. In the 21st century, towns are judged according to whether they have a coffee shop or not. Cities are judged by how many coffee shops they have. Here's the inconvenient truth, though: Coffee shops were all but dead until Starbucks started to expand in the 1990s. [2019]

Sturgis, South Dakota, USA

Defining Main Street: The Pizza Shop. Even without a full-scale restaurant, most Main Streets will proudly proffer a pizza shop. This one must max out its potential during the Sturgis Bike Rally. But, do you think the breakfast buffet is all-you-can-eat pizza? [2019]

Howell, Michigan, USA

Defining Main Street: The Restaurant. It is hard for suburbs to duplicate the ambiance of Main Street restaurants. Still, in most small towns it will be hard to find more than one or two full-service eateries like this. Does "seafood" capture the essence of place in a setting surrounded by Great Lakes? [2018]

Marietta, Georgia, USA

Defining Main Street: The Movie Theater. First there was the opera house, then there was the movie theater, and then there was streaming. Home town cinemas have survived only when they have found a dedicated preservationist movement or a niche market to serve. [2013]