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Pennsylvania Main Street Makes Cut for Best in the U.S.

There’s such a charm and inviting feeling when it comes to being on a Main Street. A thriving Main Street is a place, but it’s also a special feeling of…

American flag. As it turns out, one Pennsylvania Main Street has made the cut for one of the best in the U.S.

Getty Images / DarcyMaulsby

Getty Images / DarcyMaulsby

There's such a charm and inviting feeling when it comes to being on a Main Street. A thriving Main Street is a place, but it's also a special feeling of community and being around people from your town. While a Main Street may seem like a location from the past, but in a time when people spend so much time online instead of with each other, the Main Street really takes on added importance. It's a place where you can see your neighbors, face to face, and enjoy each other's company. As it turns out, one in Pennsylvania Main Street has made the cut for one of the best in the U.S.

Main Street in Pennsylvania Gets Props

The experts at Reader's Digest have put together a tally of the best Main Streets in America. "There's nothing better than strolling down a cute main street in a new town," they note, which is totally right. They add that, "It may seem like the quaint, charming American Main Street is a thing of the past," but that's not the reality, and there are still lots of beautiful Main Streets across the country.

So, which Pennsylvania Main Street was named one of the best in the country? It's the York, Pennsylvania, Main Street. "Known as the White Rose City, York has seen a revitalized main street in the past few decades," Reader's digest notes of this Pennsylvania spot. "Market Street is filled with local businesses setting up shop in Victorian and Classical Revival style buildings, and on the first Friday of each month, the shops stay open late to bring visitors together."

Did you know that the Main Street, as we know it, hasn't been around too long? The Main Street in America has only been in existence for about a century. "In the 1920s, to invoke Main Street was to call up an image of the dullness of provincial life," What It Means to Be American notes, adding that by the time the 1930s rolled around, the "Main Street represented the bedrock of America's embattled democracy. For decades, Main Street stood for the local; today it's an importable model of planning and development that can be set up almost anywhere."

The Main Street in America means so much more than just a bunch of stories and buildings lined up on a street. The Main Street really brings together the idea of a loving community, where people from all over the area and different neighborhoods come together and socialize with each other on the street.

Anne Erickson started her radio career shortly after graduating from Michigan State University and has worked on-air in Detroit, Flint, Toledo, Lansing and beyond. As someone who absolutely loves rock, metal and alt music, she instantly fell in love with radio and hasn’t looked back. When she’s not working, Anne makes her own music with her band, Upon Wings, and she also loves cheering on her favorite Detroit and Michigan sports teams, especially Lions and MSU football. Anne is also an award-winning journalist, and her byline has run in a variety of national publications. You can also hear her weekends on WRIF.