TheAgitator.com
Who Killed Main Street?
Tuesday, December 4th, 2007My Fox column this week argues that the blame may lie more with local zoning regulations than with evil big-box chains.
10 Responses to “Who Killed Main Street?”
Leave a Reply
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivs 2.5 License.
And if Old Town is going to make that a requirement–intentionally or not–what effect is that going to have on the small boutiques, art galleries, and antique stores that make up the very atmosphere the regulations are trying to promote?
Well, they want quaintness, but only rich quaintness.
The problem with Main Street is that people want cheap prices (something that usually only comes with economies of scale), a wide variety for one-stop shopping (that’s why Wal-Marts that sell food do so much better than Wal-Marts and supermarkets taken individually), and a convenience (lots of parking spaces, good location, etc).
We won’t change back to the way America used to be if we don’t change our attitudes.
It’s not at all common to see an independently-owned antique shop or art gallery get boarded over, only to be replaced in ensuing months by a franchise.
Isn’t there a somewhat important missing prefix in this sentence?
In light of all the facts regarding big box stories invasion of anywhere. It’s amazing that people are so shortsighted at the end of it all. Selling out for the quick buck is all I can understand out of it all. Who else will get something rezoned except the influential. The minipoliticians, the real estate speculators, the lawyers. 10 years later, the few have their cash, but what what price to the rest of the community?
How much time have you spent on King St. north of Washington St.? There are almost no chain stores or restaurants up there. It’s a really fantastic neighborhood. I hope it doesn’t go the way of the dodo.
Leshrac,
I can see the argument that those supporting big box stores make. Even though the mom and pop shops go out of business (maybe 30 families lose their business), the community gets a to save money that they can then use for other things. They get to feed their families for less; they get to give X-mas gifts for less; they get to stretch the dollar just a bit farther.
I’m a capitalist at heart. If you don’t like it, vote with your dollar and don’t shop there. Convince your friends and co-workers that they shouldn’t shop there. The truth of the matter is that we, the community, are to blame. If we didn’t patronize these stores, they wouldn’t be in business.
As a resident of Old Town for eight years, I miss the George Washington Tavern. However, I’ll bet the Starbucks that is now there is more economically viable than the tavern. Given the type of people who are visiting that area, George Washington Tavern had limited appeal (even though guys like you and me loved it).
The point is that the more economic uses will be crass and commercial. They will seem inauthentic because they will have mass appeal. This is not a bad thing. Maximum appeal is a good thing, because it benefits the masses.
I think you’re bit unfair to the City of Alexandria. They do better than most in this area.
So close, yet so far. Zoning laws hurt main street and small businesses, but it’s not the $50 fees that are the problem.
In most modern American suburban neighborhoods, I can’t open a barber shop in my house’s living room, because that would be commerce in a residential zone. Nor can I live above my store, because that would be a residence in a commercial zone.
So Mom can’t dip her toes into the idea of being a professional baker. She must either fully commit, with a full storefront in a commercial area, or she must not do anything at all. And even if she’s sure, she can’t sell her $300,000 house and buy a $300,000 commercial/residential mixed space, with a small apartment. She must buy two spaces, one for her business and another for her residence.
The businessman who has a storefront, staff and inventory is not being hurt in any major way by the regulations you describe. Those are petty inconvenience compared to the issue of the great chef who would love to run a restaurant out of their apartment, as happens in many Asian countries, but cannot afford retail space, and so their business never even starts.
Up here in Philly, besides the zoning lawyers, there exists another creature, known as ‘an expediter.’ That’s usually someone with half the qualifications of the lawyer, but twice the contacts. Hell, the city even has an official ‘fast-track’ permit system…for an extra fee, of course.
I hear you Nando, I feel pretty much the same way about capitalism at it’s best. I’m just so frustrated with the lack of responsibility that comes with it a lot of the time. Rape, pillage, scorched earth policy is not the way to go. I’d love to support big box but with so many of them treating their own employees not as just replaceable, but as disposable, I just shop as much to the local level as I can. But I know I’m likely buying a lot of the same chinese made products anyway but I try:) I guess I have heard too many of my friends say “really?” over too many issues and still refuse to let their ignorance be bliss.
It’s pretty hard some days to reconcile wanting freedom of the market and asking for everyone to also be able to afford health care. I know, I know, can’t have it all but should we look the other way and lose pieces of our humanity?