North Dakota

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Fargo, North Dakota – Broadway

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More than $100 million in public and private funding has done wonders to revitalize Fargo’s once-declining downtown. The investment has centered on a 39-block “Renaissance Zone,” through which Broadway is the central corridor for business, shopping and dining.

Property values in Fargo’s downtown have soared since the Renaissance Zone efforts began in 1999. Exploring Broadway today, you’ll see and feel the impacts of its $10 million facelift project. Strategic investments have made the avenue more appealing and pedestrian-friendly, with iron street furniture, new trees and planting beds alongside the street, decorative pavers and attractive light poles.

Fourteen blocks of downtown are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They recall the decades after the railroad came to Fargo in 1871, when this city — and Broadway specifically — was North Dakota’s commercial, manufacturing and retail hub.

After a major shopping mall opened outside the city limits in 1973, Fargo’s downtown core began a long decline. But both public and private investments and work of the last two decades have dramatically reversed the decline.  Broadway is once again a showcase. With some 4,000 students at North Dakota State University taking classes downtown, Broadway has a new-found youth vibe.  It has even been named the official downtown “Bicycle/Pedestrian Safety Zone,” with bike racks, bike lockers, and a shared path for riding.

Among the handsomely restored attractions on Broadway include the Fargo Theatre, a onetime stop on the vaudeville circuit, built in 1926 and a lively venue today for independent and foreign films, plus concerts and other live events. The Hotel Donaldson, over a century old, is prized for fine dining and hosts live music. “For everyone who has seen the mosaic mural when you walk in, look closer,” advises the magazine Fargo Monthly. “There’s a door hidden in the wall. People are encouraged to take something and leave something behind.”

There are some other quirky attractions along Broadway, including pop-up businesses and the Red River farmer’s market. You’ll discover many unique art galleries along Broadway, including Gallery 4, a cooperative art gallery that “has miniature art hidden in the floor,” Fargo Monthly notes. “Your kids can enjoy this fun scavenger hunt while you enjoy the original artwork.”

With 75 retailers, 22 bars & nightlife spots, 10 coffee shops, 41 restaurants, eight art galleries and six theatre companies, there are plenty of reasons to keep exploring Broadway and its environs through the evening.

All photos courtesy of Fargo-Moorhead Convention & Visitors Bureau
Fargo, ND is home to a 2016-17 LifeChanger: Amy Petersen

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Lisbon, North Dakota – Main Street

Main Streets 2016: North Dakota

Lisbon, North Dakota has a neighborly, small-town feeling, and Main Street is the community’s meeting place. The town is set in the scenic Sheyenne River Valley of southeastern North Dakota, and it prides itself on being just small enough that everyone knows one another, yet still large enough to provide important services, amenities and an appealing, family-centered quality of life. Not for nothing is the town’s motto “A Place to Call Home!”

Walk down Main Street and you will find many unique store fronts and shops — even the quintessential pharmacy and hardware stores you’d expect on a main street. You also can’t miss Teal’s Market, which has been family-owned since 1942. You’ll step back in time at Hodenattés on Main, a restaurant that also offers shopping in a historic building complete with weathered brick and aged wood. Enjoy a cappuccino and lunch from Hodenattés’ café, then poke around the gift shop’s unique offering of souvenirs, décor, clothing and antiques. What does “Hodenattés” mean, you might ask? It’s a made-up name, combining “home,” “garden” … and “lattés.”

Lisbon’s Main Street is also home to oldest continuously running movie theater in the United States. The iconic Scenic Theater was built in 1911, and has had just four owners in its long history. The current proprietors have completely renovated the Scenic — they’ve restored its distinctive Art Deco marquee and indoor lighting, and also made it handicapped-accessible.

Many of Lisbon’s 2,000-plus residents make up a strong workforce, contributing to a healthy local economy with a low unemployment rate. To encourage new growth and business development, the town has designated the area around and including Main Street as its “Renaissance Zone,” and offers sales-tax and housing incentives.

It can get both hot and cold in North Dakota, but that doesn’t stop local residents and families from having fun. For over 40 years, they’ve flocked on Sunday nights to the Sheyenne River Speedway to cheer on their favorite drivers from Lisbon and around Ransom County. And right on Main Street, the historic Lisbon Opera House — built in 1889, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 — has been reopened by the Lisbon Opera House Foundation for events and community-theater productions. Restoration work continues on the building, and is strongly supported by this actively involved community.

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