The Four Point was developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation's National Center with the goal of economic developement within the context of historic preservation. The four point approach includes:

• Design - Utlizing appropriate design concepts, the visual quality of the downtown buildings, signs, displays, landscaping, and environement) is enhanced.
• Organization - Each community has many groups of people who are interested in and are willing to work toward the goal of a revitilized downtown. The organizational element brings together the public sector and private groups and individual citizens, with coordination by paid program manager, to work more effectively in the downtown.
• Promotion - By promoting the downtown in a positive manner, a community can begin to focus on a downtown as a source of community pride, social activity, and economic development potential.
• Economic Development - The element involves diversifying the downtown economy by identifying marketing niches, finding new uses for vacant or unused spaces and improving business practices.