In an effort to deepen community engagement, the Washington State Main Street Program utilized the Belonging Barometer to assess residents’ feelings of belonging in their downtown areas.
For decades, community revitalization efforts have primarily focused on quantifiable metrics such as the number of new businesses, jobs created, building rehabilitations, affordable housing units, and financial investments. While these figures are significant, they do not capture the entire narrative of community well-being.
The Washington State Main Street Program sought to explore a different dimension of community revitalization: the sense of belonging among residents in their downtown areas. To achieve this, the organization turned to the Belonging Barometer, a tool designed to assess feelings of inclusion and connection within communities.
Supporting approximately 80 downtown organizations across Washington State, the Main Street Program aims to preserve historic sites while fostering vibrant, economically thriving downtowns. Despite recognizing the social value of their initiatives—such as bringing neighbors together and creating welcoming spaces—program leaders struggled to quantify these outcomes.
“We’ve always known about the social impact of our work,” said Lydia Felty of the Washington State Main Street Program. “But articulating that social return on investment has been elusive.”
Traditionally, success was gauged through tangible results: the number of buildings rehabilitated, new businesses launched, and jobs created. While these metrics reflect economic impact, they fail to address critical questions about community connection. Do residents feel a sense of belonging? Are they welcomed in downtown spaces? Do they believe they can influence their community’s future?
“We kept asking ourselves, ‘How do you know if an event achieved something beyond bringing people downtown or increasing sales for local businesses?’” Felty noted. “Those metrics are important—but they don’t tell the full story.”
Upon learning about the Belonging Barometer from a longtime colleague, the team recognized its potential and began implementing it.
“The Belonging Barometer provides such a clear framework for how to approach this work with a very clear ‘why,’” Felty explained. “It’s difficult work, but the framework makes it accessible.”
Crucially, the survey was designed to be adaptable for various settings. Rather than measuring belonging in a broad sense, the Washington Main Street Program tailored the survey to focus specifically on residents’ experiences in their downtown communities. Questions delved into whether individuals felt emotionally connected to their downtown, welcomed by others, and empowered to influence decisions affecting their community.
“The survey felt incredibly adaptable,” Felty said. “If it can work nationally, locally, in workplaces, schools, and communities, surely we can apply it to our own situation.”
Instead of launching the survey statewide, the Washington State Main Street Program initiated a manageable pilot program. In the fall of 2024, four communities participated in the first cohort. The objective was to establish a baseline and understand how the Belonging Barometer could be applied within a Main Street context. Alongside the survey, the team incorporated historical research, site visits, and community interviews to gain a deeper understanding of each downtown’s unique story and context.
Recognizing that belonging is closely tied to place, the team aimed for the data to reflect more than just survey scores.
“We leaned into the idea of place-based belonging,” Felty said. “What does it actually mean for people to feel like they belong in this specific downtown?”
Some of the most impactful insights emerged from personal stories. One participant shared their experience attending a sensory-friendly downtown parade with a grandchild who has autism. For that family, the event represented a deliberate effort by the downtown to create an accessible space where they felt welcomed.
“That really stood out,” Felty recalled. “It was one of those moments where someone could genuinely say, ‘We belong here.’”
Such narratives reinforced a notion already suspected by many community leaders: intentional programming can significantly influence feelings of inclusion.
The pilot confirmed one of the team’s initial hypotheses: individuals engaged with their local Main Street organizations generally reported a stronger sense of belonging. While the team acknowledges that it is premature to draw broad causal conclusions, the findings provided valuable insights and a foundation for future initiatives.
More importantly, the process itself began to shift conversations within communities. Local organizations and partners utilized the findings to reassess existing programs, considering who might still feel excluded, how volunteers could feel more connected, and what minor adjustments could enhance the welcoming nature of events.
“Even if the data doesn’t immediately tell you to do X, Y, or Z, having belonging in the collective consciousness changes the way people think,” Felty said. “It encourages organizations to make small adjustments and be more intentional about integrating resources that help people feel more connected.”
For Felty, one of the Belonging Barometer’s greatest strengths is its ability to quantify something that many have long believed to be important but could not measure effectively.
“So often we’re measuring dollars, jobs, spending, or attendance,” she noted. “Those are all important, but they only tell one part of the story.”
“Being able to measure belonging—being able to measure social impact—means we’re better able to create communities where people genuinely feel connected to each other and to the places they live. That’s the heart of the work.”
Following the success of the pilot, the Washington State Main Street Program is expanding to a second cohort of communities while continuing to learn alongside others utilizing the Belonging Barometer. Felty encourages organizations not to wait until they have a perfect plan.
“The blueprint is already there,” she said. “You can pick it up, adapt it to your own context, and start learning.”
The Belonging Barometer offers organizations a practical starting point and a growing community of practitioners eager to share their discoveries. While every community is unique, the fundamental question remains the same: Do people feel like they belong here?
The first step toward answering that question is simply asking it.
Ready to get started? Download the free Belonging Barometer Quick Start Guide and survey questions to begin measuring belonging in your community.
According to American Immigration Council.