Josh Bloom

Josh teaches communities how to revitalize their commercial centers by first gaining an understanding of their local economies and then helping them apply that knowledge to a series of market-driven and achievable projects. He has particular interests in using research on local customers to deepen the picture painted by traditional demographic data sources, and in cultivating sustainable clusters of chain and independent businesses. He has published articles on both of these subjects.

Before joining the CLUE Group, Josh spent ten years as a program officer at the National Trust for Historic Preservation's National Main Street Center. While he works in communities of all sizes, he was instrumental at the Main Street Center in expanding the program's urban reach to cities that included Boston, Cleveland, St. Louis, Los Angeles and others.

Josh received his B.A. from Columbia University and a master's in historic preservation from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a former molecular biologist (really). And he is a trained preservation carpenter, having completed a two-year course of study at the North Bennet Street School, a highly regarded trades school in Boston.