Taos Mainstreet

Downtown Taos Inc. (Taos MainStreet, TMS) was incorporated by NM Secretary of State 1/25/2019 and recognized as a 501c3 organization 5/1/2019. The mission of TMS is to work with the community to revitalize Historic Downtown Taos while preserving its culture. As a member of the MainStreet America and New Mexico MainStreet (NMMS), TMS engages in preservation-based economic development. TMS recognizes that everyone deserves access to a vibrant community, a place with a thriving local economy, rich in character, and inviting public spaces where locals and visitors feel they belong. TMS serves as the action-based implementation team coordinating with the community, Town of Taos, businesses, and property owners to achieve this shared vision of our downtown. This includes a safe, walkable, and bikeable downtown, with inclusive and inviting civic spaces particularly for youth, families with children and seniors aging in place. TMS projects are focused on three main strategies: reinvigorating downtown as an inclusive, vibrant civic space, encouraging diversity in the economic activity of downtown through the creative economy, and building an effective movement to bring about change. (i) TMS, UNM-Taos, UNM-Taos Hub of Internet Vocation and Education, and Taos High Tech teamed together to launch the Business Alive project in 2020-21. This program helped local businesses develop or increase their e-commerce capacity during the pandemic by developing/enhancing their websites. This program was offered at no cost to businesses and was funded by the LOR Foundation. One of the completed websites is https://goldenandersonstudios.com/. (ii) TMS and NMMS partnered with the Taos Center of the Arts (TCA) to generate a 5-plus year plan to Redesign the TCA Campus to create aesthetically appealing outdoor green spaces for public art, performance, recreation, and relaxation. In 2022 TCA received $50,000 from T-Mobile to revitalize Stables/Carriage House Courtyard that included a new amphitheater to provide seating for small performances, stage area, an ADA-accessible walkway to allow access to the area, and landscaping. In 2023, TCA received $97,339.50 from NM Outdoor Recreation Division Trails+ to generate construction documents for the remainder of TCA campus redesign. (iii) TMS is currently partnered with The Carson House and Museum and Twirl in delivering technical assistance to their revitalization efforts. (iv)Crosswalk Art. TMS, in collaboration with the Paseo Project and Town of Taos, worked with local artists to install painted murals along existing crosswalks within the Taos Historic District. (v) TMS’ Beautification efforts included bi-annual clean-ups of downtown Taos, works of art by local youth artists installed on 18 traffic signal boxes that replaced graffiti-covered surfaces, and partnering with the Paseo Project and Town of Taos to build a pop-up mural gallery on Taos Plaza. (https://www.taosnews.com/sponsored/success-story-historic-preservation-and-economic-development/article_e8055af8-458f-11ed-8995-ef5a5f00e54c.html) (vi) TMS has also advanced work recommended in the Strong at Heart Report Strategy Report of 2019 by completing full a alleyway and walkability assessment (Taos AlleyWay Network Project) and by securing funding to develop a Metropolitan Redevelopment Area (MRA) Plan. (vii) TMS partnered with Town of Taos and secured $1 million Capital Outlay Funding from NMMS in December, 2023, for Plaza Revitalization.