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Rational Urbanism
Home » Rational Urbanism » Killing What Works

Killing What Works

On a Saturday evening almost everything is closed downtown; banks, offices, stores, museums. There is one block, one, where there is some life: The Shean Block. There is a small restaurant open, a barber shop (with a handful of people actually inside getting their hair cut), a convenience store, and a clothing boutique.

Here is a snapshot, taken at 4:30 on a Saturday, showing the very face of the building which will be turned into a beautiful blank wall of parking at the corner of State and Main in downtown Springfield.

20121230-065434.jpg

Genius. Let’s kill what works.

I’ve seen this here before, yes it’s “activity”, but it’s the wrong people being active: Brown people! These look like minority owned businesses run by minorities mostly for minorities…and that’s not who we want the heart of the downtown to be for. How can we get the Wilbraham people and the Longmeadow people to come down here if Jamaal is selling fried chicken and Paco is running a bodega?

You know what? I’m bald, I don’t wear women’s clothing (or hang around in bars), and I prefer pannini to fried chicken, but when I’m walking downtown with my wife on a Saturday evening I like to see activity and the Shean Block is as good as it gets.

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