Full Streets, Empty Stores

I spend a fair amount of time walking around Fort Lee--I'm the woman with the huge black dog that is great with humans, especially children, but no longer reliable around other canines. I walk by houses that are here today, gone tomorrow (usually a bulldozer parks in the front yard for a while first, or a chain link fence goes up), to be replaced with a bigger, sleeker version. I walk by banks--rumor has it there are at least 65 in Fort Lee these days. I walk by stores and restaurants that open one day, stay around for a year or two or three, then have a giant sale, and then close--more and more storefronts are staying empty for longer and longer. It begins to feel like a ghost town, especially when long-time restaurants (e.g. Sally Ling's, Baggio's) close.  

Contrast that with Main Street last Sunday at the Fort Lee Arts Festival. Makeshift tents and stalls displayed a vast assortment of goods. All sorts of people--young, old, Korean, Brazilian, WASP, Italian, Chinese, Jewish, Puerto Rican, African, Russian, probably 30 other nationalities and ethnic backgrounds--mingled cheerfully. People were catching up with other people and finding out about new resources.  Art and gifts and "green" booths and fire safety booths and police education tables, great food, information about a host of services, music and entertainment, give aways--everything we need to make a great public square.

What do we need to do to make daily life and commerce more vibrant? Why are so many stores empty?  Well, one out of three small businesses fail within the first two years. Some businesses don't sell what people want or need. Rents increase. But why are the rents going up enough that long time businesses are squeezed out? Is it the need for high rent that keeps some stores empty for years? Wouldn't there be a break even point between lower rent with occupants vs. no rent and no occupants? I'm not even sure where to look for answers. And what about variety: why are there so many nail salons and dry cleaners, and as of now, no book or toy stores? Has online shopping obscured the pleasures of browsing, chatting with store owners, running into neighbors, finding folks with common interests in the real world? 

Here's what I know as an Episcopal priest: Jesus was never much of a fan of shopping, or of accumulating money or possessions--I can't find the scripture that says salvation lies in a constantly growing economy or in having a lot of stuff.  Christian, Jewish, Muslim and most other religious traditions' scriptures are full of how to treat neighbors in family and civic  life. One consistent measure of a good society in these traditions is how the poorest and most vulnerable are treated.  What kind of public life encourages compassion and intra-cultural understanding, life in harmony with the well-being of the planet, the flourishing of creativity, beauty, effectiveness, and usefulness in business, the ability of everyone to make enough money to take good care of themselves and their family? I'm wary of letting market forces alone determine who participates actively in and benefits from business and real estate decisions.

We saw one example of a flourishing public event last weekend.  Let's remember what kind of community life we'd like, talk lots, find some common values amidst the individual differences that bring vitality and greater insight into the conversation, and then be intentional about developing business that incarnates and furthers those goals.