The Village of Sherman's Main Street downtown business district, with its four eateries, is the center of the target area, running East and West on NY State Rte. 430, in proximity to I-86. To the north lies the cultural activities on Park Street and to the south there are outdoor recreational opportunities along French Creek including parks and the multi-use trail (Chautauqua Rails to Trails).
Geographic Area & Justification
The Village of Sherman is one square mile of family-orientated, walkable, and bikeable community. The 51-acre focus area includes the historic downtown East and West Main Street with its iconic attached row buildings. French Creek runs parallel to Main Street’s south side, the location of two parks at the southern trailhead of Chautauqua Rails to Trails (CR2T); while Park Street runs parallel along Main Street’s north side, the cross streets of Church Street and Miller Street are home to the French Creek Yorker Museum, Stanley Hose Company, and Minerva Free Library, (with Sherman Central School just outside the target area on Park Street).
Middle of nowhere? Actually, in the center of everything! The Village of Sherman is on the I-86 corridor and 13 miles from I-90. Almost perfectly centered between the cities of Jamestown, NY; Dunkirk, NY; and Erie, PA; and the metropolitan areas of Buffalo, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. There are three beautiful recreational lakes within 20 minutes: Findley Lake, Chautauqua Lake, and Lake Erie; and two trails in Sherman: Chautauqua Rails to Trails and Westside Overland Trail; representing only a portion of the many blueways and greenways to experience in Chautauqua County. Visitors to Sherman come to experience the nearby Chautauqua Institution, National Comedy Center, festivals, and enjoy all the seasons with activities on the snowmobile trail, golf courses, and Peek ’n Peak ski-resort. This makes the Village of Sherman the perfect place to live and visit.
Sherman is a key connective link in the greater Erie to Pittsburgh Trail System. The Village is working to receive the Trail Town Designation with continued investments in amenities to support a trail town full of visitors. Such a designation has proven to substantially bolster the regional economy through ecotourism.
The focus area of 51 acres consists of 15 acres of predominantly commercial and mixed-use buildings, including four major restoration and reuse projects, one new housing development, multiple small retail and façade improvement projects, and public art. Downtown East and West Main Street is lined with multi-story, mixed-use attached row buildings covered in brick exterior with a quaint covered walkway awning arcade. The buildings contain retail establishments and restaurants on the first floors with residential units occupying the upper floors, some of which are vacant and require rehabilitation. The downtown center is bookended with two vacant industrial buildings uniquely positioned to be transformed into recreational and community spaces that will draw visitors to the region. The proposed projects at the museum, library, parks, and trail in the focus area complement the downtown projects with educational, cultural, natural, and recreational improvements, providing ADA accessibility and safety elements.