Reader Tony responded to my post Wednesday, questioning why small neighborhood stores matter:
I live near a local business district. I'm neighbors with the vendors. They live in the area. I'm friends with many of them. They like me, and I like them. I help a lot of them the way that I help you. I consider it to be my civic duty. If we lose local resources when the businesses fail, then they are replaced with empty storefronts, broken glass, crime, vandalism. When they thrive, the whole neighborhood blooms. LOTS of happy, safe, secure customers walking the streets at all hours, enjoying life in a fun neighborhood. Maybe they don't have that sort of thing in DC. If not, I sure as heck don't want to go there!
In order to live in our neighborhood, folks have to make a decent living. Down at the Walmart in the valley, they DON'T make enough to own their own homes. They're permanently poor. I use the phrase "I like to keep my money local", and do whatever I can to bring business to the local shops because of the upward swing toward gentrification. As a gay man you've got to have GENTRIFICATION tattooed on your very soul!
Local vendors are not separate from neighbors - They ARE our neighbors, and if they fail, the neighborhood slides toward harsh times. I wonder how much of this makes sense to you... It's rock-solid logic to me.
