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For �Ը������� University students, downtown Kent can feel like an extension of campus.

It’s a place to grab coffee between classes, meet friends for dinner, browse local shops, study outside, discover public art, listen to live music or simply take a walk along the Cuyahoga River. It’s close enough to campus to be part of students’ everyday lives — and distinctive enough to become part of their memories of �Ը�������.

Helping create that experience has been the work of , which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year.

The nonprofit organization was established in 2006 as part of a larger effort to revitalize downtown Kent. Working with the national approach and , Main Street Kent focuses on the promotion, beautification, preservation and revitalization of downtown.

Its mission is straightforward: to make downtown Kent “a fun, vibrant and thriving community.”

But for �Ը������� students, the organization’s impact extends well beyond its mission statement.

“Making downtown Kent for everyone is really our ultimate goal,” said Heather Malarcik, executive director of Main Street Kent and a �Ը������� advertising graduate. “This is everyone’s downtown. It’s for the college students.”

A Downtown Designed for Students — and Everyone Else

When Malarcik was a �Ը������� student in the 1990s, downtown looked very different.

“There really wasn’t much to do,” she said. “There wasn’t a focus on the beautiful river and the things that you could do on and next to it. Acorn Alley and the shopping didn’t exist. There wasn’t a downtown pocket park. There weren’t public art projects for people to walk around and see all the time.”

Today, those experiences are woven into the fabric of the community.

Main Street Kent supports local businesses through marketing and promotional efforts, while also organizing events and programs designed to bring people downtown. Its work includes public art projects, beautification initiatives, volunteer cleanup days and events throughout the year. 

The organization also intentionally creates opportunities for �Ը������� students.

In August, Main Street Kent partners with �Ը�������’s Center for Student Involvement on Flashes First Friday, bringing thousands of students downtown and giving them vouchers to sample food from local restaurants and businesses.

The calendar continues throughout the academic year.

There’s Oktoberfest in the fall, holiday activities and the annual Elf Hunt, Snow Day in January, Chocolate Walk in February, and the Art & Wine Festival in June. Rainbow Weekend is held in October specifically so �Ը������� students can participate and Main Street Kent works with student organizations on programming, bridge decorations, safe-space training and other activities.

The events aren't just about getting people to spend money.

“We’re working to make downtown Kent a fun, vibrant and thriving community,” Malarcik said. “And so that’s for everybody. It’s for the members of the community. It’s for visitors. It’s for students who are here for a year or five-plus years or hopefully living here after they finish college. This is a place where people feel at home and they want to stay here.”

That sense of belonging is one of the organization’s most important contributions to the student experience.

Malarcik said students have told Main Street Kent representatives that they feel safe downtown and consider it a part of their home.

A College Town That Encourages Students to Explore

Main Street Kent’s work also gives students opportunities to step outside the traditional college experience.

The organization works with downtown businesses that offer alternatives to the typical college bar scene — from coffee shops and restaurants to shops, galleries, parks and places to gather.

“I think students have a great opportunity to have outside-of-campus study spots,” Malarcik said. “I think our coffee shops thrive with students and they’re all over town.”

She also points to the diversity of businesses and experiences available to students, including the downtown farmers market, public art and businesses such as Board & Bevy, which offers a place for people to socialize through board games.

“Our businesses really work hard to have opportunities for students to be social outside of the normal things that are available to college kids,” Malarcik said.

The result is a college experience that doesn't end at the edge of campus.

Having something to do that’s within a 15-minute walk of where you live in the dorm, to walk around and go just get out of your bubble and go enjoy what our town has to offer, Malarcik said.

Connecting �Ը������� and Kent

Malarcik credits many people and organizations with helping transform downtown Kent over the past two decades, including �Ը�������.

The Lester A. Lefton Esplanade physically connected campus to downtown, while new development, public spaces and other projects helped create momentum for revitalization.

“Main Street Kent being established and the support of Ron Burbick doing his developments in Acorn Alley and the PARTA Garage coming together and �Ը������� building the Esplanade, all of these things happening over that few years of time really helped launch the whole town into becoming what it is today,” Malarcik said.

Today, the relationship between �Ը������� and Main Street Kent extends into events, internships, student organizations, public art and other collaborative projects.

“One of the great things about our organization is we always have somebody from �Ը������� University serving on our board of directors,” Malarcik said. “And it’s not that they’re appointed, it’s that they’re involved and they want to be a part of what we’re doing.”

Those connections create opportunities for students to become active participants in the community rather than simply residents of it.

The relationship is also personal for Main Street Kent’s leadership.

Malarcik is a �Ը������� alumna, and Lesley Sickle, who oversees marketing and branding for Main Street Kent and leads its public art efforts, is also a �Ը������� graduate.

Malarcik said the organization is fortunate to have a �Ը������� alum leading the Kent Public Art Board and helping bring public art projects to life in partnership with business and property owners.

The People Behind the Place

Main Street Kent may be celebrating 20 years, but Malarcik emphasizes that the organization’s work isn't accomplished by its two-person staff alone.

Its board members, committee members, volunteers, businesses, community organizations and university partners all contribute to the effort.

“We could not do this work without all of the board members and committee members and volunteers who show up every single day to help us do this work,” Malarcik said.

Its work also means responding to moments the organization could never have planned for.

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to close, Main Street Kent created home-based interviews with business owners and developed to-go packages to help residents safely support local businesses. When a total solar eclipse brought unprecedented attention to the region, the organization worked with other groups to create a weekend of programming. 

“We’re always up for making changes with whatever the current state is,” Malarcik said. “We just have to flex.”

Helping Make Kent the Best College Town in Ohio

In June, Kent was named the No. 1 college town in Ohio and No. 8 in the nation in MoneyLion’s 2026 ranking of the 20 Best College Towns in America. The ranking considered factors including livability, cost of living and the concentration of residents ages 20-24. The recognition is a point of pride for a community that has spent decades building a place where students can feel connected not only to their university, but also to the city around it.

For Main Street Kent Executive Director Heather Malarcik, that connection is especially meaningful because she experienced Kent first as a student and now as a community leader.

Downtown Kent has a ton of things to offer college students outside of their study life, Malarcik said. 

Main Street Kent’s work helps turn those opportunities into an everyday part of the student experience — creating reasons for students to leave campus, explore the community and ultimately see Kent as more than just the place where they attend college.

And after 20 years, Main Street Kent is still looking ahead.

“We want people to get a chance to shout from the rooftop,” Malarcik said. “Look what we’re doing here. And we’re proud of it and it’s never over. And so we’re always up for our next challenge and we have to keep it up.”

For generations of �Ը������� students, that next challenge will continue to shape the place just beyond campus — a downtown that has become an essential part of what it means to live, learn and belong in Kent.