BURLINGTON, Vt. -- The Burlington City Hall announced Friday that a six-block section along North Street has qualified for the national historic registry.

According to News Channel 5, the area is a mix of students, new immigrants and families who have lived there for decades. It was Burlington's original commercial district a century ago.

North Street fell into decline in the 1960s and 70s, but with Friday's announcement, more and more people are becoming convinced that the old North End is coming back.

Barbara Cook knew she was taking a chance, opening her sparkling new cafe in the rougher part of town. That was almost four years ago, and she's still here.

"Every year, you feel it happening a little bit more," Cook told News Channel 5. "People being willing to come down to the old North End. People starting to feel safe."

Cook's café, called Scrumptious, has thrived in the North Street neighborhood, which she now calls the Greenwich Village of Burlington. A century ago, this was where new immigrants settled. The Irish, Russians, Germans and French Canadians each living on separate blocks, say historians.

"And North Street was the glue," state preservation officer Emily Wadhams said.

Then business shifted south to Church Street, and the area fell on hard times. Crime scared visitors away. But lately North Street is coming back.

New immigrants from Eastern Europe and Asia are moving in, opening markets and other businesses. Next year, workmen begin burying power lines, widening sidewalks and installing the original street lamps.

Now, a six-block section here has made the National Register of Historic Places. It means owners of commercial buildings are now eligible for 20 percent federal tax credits for improvements in the area, and city hall says there are no new restrictions on the work they can do."

"It is (going to change a lot)," city councilman Phil Fiermonte said. "And it's changing for the better."

Mayor Clavelle was beaming Friday, News Channel 5 reported, when he predicted those once ashamed to live here will in a year or two be proud to call the North Street neighborhood home.