Downtown

There is talk here in Greensboro and in small towns across America of revitalizing the downtown area. The businesses once owned and operated by Mom and Pop are gone. The little shops unable to compete with the corporate giants. The downtown area is beginning to show its age and lack of commerce. The old timers fondly recalling the days gone by. The days when downtown was vibrant and alive. Can it be so again ? I believe it could, but it would take a commitment by all. That commitment would have to be a commitment to community. Isn't that the heart of any downtown ? The community. When we speak of the old days and ways we always say how we all knew each other. We knew whose children were whose. We knew parents, grandparents ,aunts, uncles and all sorts of relatives. We were a community. We knew the shop owners. We knew of their personal lives and the triumphs and tribulations they had. The shop owners knew ours as well. But somewhere along the line we began to withdraw from that. We went for the bargains and the impersonal credit plans. It became, just business. A community is a lot more than business, a community is personal !
We can all make excuses for what has happened. After all it isn't our fault. The big corporations are to blame. Who can compete against them ? The question really is, who will support them ? And the answer to that one is not a pleasant thought. It is us. It wasn't the neighbor or the man down the street. It didn't just happen. We made that happen. Well we can make it change too. If we were to show support and commitment to the little guy we can have that again. It is all a matter of choice. The really big question is , how many choices do you need ? That is the big problem with small business isn't it ? A limited inventory. The world has become smaller. That can not be denied. Goods and services are available in every corner of the country. All matter of goods in an almost infinite variety. We have become drunk with inventory. The world has become so small our little down town areas have all but vanished,swallowed up in a glut of inventory. Rampant consumerism.
All that being said I wonder how to revitalize a community. Can that be accomplished in today's world ? Most of us barely know our neighbors anymore, let alone who may live on the next block. We see the bad in our neighbors quickly enough, but overlook the good. We barely speak to one another. Was a time when the Church served that function well. The social aspects of that are undeniable. The Churches are losing there appeal. A call for people to come to Church falls on deaf ears. Some are even proud of their disbelief. Some get angry when invited. The fabric of society has changed. It is a different world. Different from the world we remember. Different from the world we wished for for our children. We led the charge away from small town America. We built the Walmart's, The Toys R Us, and the strip malls. We supported all the fast food franchises. We took the bread right out of the mouths of our neighbors and now we complain. But we can change that. How to begin ? How to bring a community back together ? That is a very tough question. The answer it seems is a sad one, the answer lies in what is in it for me ? In today's world we want something tangible,that's why the consumerism. We do not want to wait for results either,we want it now. And so it is a tricky thing to get people to want the intangible. You figure that out and we can bring back the old days. Bring back that sense of community. I guess man has just become to smart for that though. We want results and we want proof. It is still nice to think about.