Can downtowns survive?

[ndebord]

ROFL!!! Great line!

Judy,

Our dear Mayor is in pre-retirement mode. 3rd Term as Mayor and he won't be running again. He already has his real estate shingle hanging in a local Sicilian real estate office which does most of the work in the now privatized MOT. They're hanging their hats on that peninsula reviving the town. Not an unexpected rationalization as the MOT made the town solvent ever since they built the thing in 1947 (Navy base, later an Army one and closed in 1995 when Congress looked around the country and shut down some excess capacity). However, they're not putting enough effort on Broadway, which is the traditional shopping block. Not all their fault, as the trend of big box retailers is hurting all downtowns. SIGH. But the traditional practice of some people "dipping their beaks" is deleterious to effective long-term planning for the town's future.

[Judy G. Russell]

they're not putting enough effort on Broadway, which is the traditional shopping block. Not all their fault, as the trend of big box retailers is hurting all downtowns. SIGH. It really is possible to keep both a vibrant downtown AND the big box retailers, but not without some effort and some thought. The downtown has to offer the kind of niche shops that tend to get overlooked by the malls and the big box stores.

But the traditional practice of some people "dipping their beaks" is deleterious to effective long-term planning for the town's future.Always true, everywhere, and nowhere more than Hudson County, I'm afraid. (It's really the great American sport, along with cheating on income taxes, only Hudson County types tend to get caught a lot...)

[ndebord]

It really is possible to keep both a vibrant downtown AND the big box retailers, but not without some effort and some thought. The downtown has to offer the kind of niche shops that tend to get overlooked by the malls and the big box stores.

Always true, everywhere, and nowhere more than Hudson County, I'm afraid. (It's really the great American sport, along with cheating on income taxes, only Hudson County types tend to get caught a lot...)

Judy,

Actually I'd put Hudson County 2nd on the all-time list behind Kansas City's Pendergast.

(Spent all my early summers there in a little development built by J.C. Nichols called the Plaza.)

[Judy G. Russell]

Actually I'd put Hudson County 2nd on the all-time list behind Kansas City's Pendergast. (Spent all my early summers there in a little development built by J.C. Nichols called the Plaza.)I won't argue. I was confining my comments to New Jersey (and even there the old Atlantic County machine could give Hudson County a run for its money).

[ndebord]

I won't argue. I was confining my comments to New Jersey (and even there the old Atlantic County machine could give Hudson County a run for its money).


Judy,

The OLD Atlantic County Machine? What? Is Norcross now chopped liver?

<g>

[Judy G. Russell]

The OLD Atlantic County Machine? What? Is Norcross now chopped liver? <g>Comparatively? Total chopped liver. We're talking the OLD machine up to and including Hap Farley.

[ndebord]

Comparatively? Total chopped liver. We're talking the OLD machine up to and including Hap Farley.

Judy,

Perhaps, but since this man totally dominates ALL of southern NJ, if this is less of a boss-run system, I'd hate to live under the original.

<brrrrr>

[Judy G. Russell]

since this man totally dominates ALL of southern NJ, if this is less of a boss-run system, I'd hate to live under the original. <brrrrr>You'd have hated it for sure. Not only was it a truly amazingly corrupt political machine (mobbed up as well)... but -- like Norcross -- they were all Republicans too!