Downtowns living under a shadow

By Isaac Daniel, T-H Intern

July 04, 2008 10:16 pm

— Stores located on America’s Main Streets such as family owned diners where couples share one milkshake with two straws have faded. Small town America... a.k.a. Washington, Ind., seem to be crumbling away from existence. A new political party emerged out of this crumble, not to restart or rebuild, but to abolish all remnants of small towns — corporatocracy.
Corporate giants rank highest on this nation’s food chain, and as the economic predators, they seek to control places in our country that are ill-equipped to stand up to such a takeover.
When a superstore moves into the neighborhood, it erects itself away from the center of town. As the superstore sets itself in stone, all shoppers are drawn away from Main Streets and find themselves parking side-by-side to highways and interstates — located on the near edges of town.
This action creates the loss of movement necessary for small town stores to stay afloat. WIth shoppers transferring to conglomerate superstores, those shops start to fade out of the market. Take a drive north on SR 57 through Plainville. Not many small-town stores boast life and activity anymore. Drive south, there’s a superstore next to U.S. 50. One store has replaced what used to be the lifeline of a town.
In Washington, many buildings display “For Sale” signs in their windows instead of merchandise. Even in central Indiana are small stores evaporating into dust. Those areas are now called Old Towne, and family shops are replaced with sex shops. The loss of business in Old Townes naturally lower costs of leasing out buildings. This brings in the cheaper, and non-traditional, businesses.
Small community shops have no defense against a one-stop superstore. How could they? Those small shops which where the lifeline of the town are withered and forced into desperate acts. They sell, go bankrupt or conform to work for the superstore.
Superstores don’t add to towns, they take away. No more competition is available, and because of that, there’s no place else to work, making those destroyed by the corporatocrats, to be cynically employed with low, if no, benefits. And the employees of these superstores seem most displeased about working there. I hardly ever see a perky face, which leaves me to believe the work environment is awful.
Every image I have of a small town store is a total opposite: a-first-step-in-the-door greeting, quick assistance, no annoying questions about enrolling for credit cards and no 30-day return policy. The groans and moans of superstores’ shadows over small town America echo through the nearly abandoned Main Streets, but nobody listens.
idaniel@washtimesherald.com

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