Once upon a time we hoped for tourists so that we could get all the empty commercial spaces filled with businesses that would enhance everyone’s lives. They said the reason no one wanted to take the risk of opening a business was because we don’t get enough street traffic to sustain them. Now we’re getting tons of tourists who crowd us out of the tram but still no additional businesses to fill the empty storefronts. We need to direct these tourists to the main Main Street to get more traffic but there’s not much for them to see or do when they get there so there’s a bit of a Catch 22 going on.
If we are destined to deal with the inconvenience of the tourists traffic we should at least try and make lemonade out of the lemons.
Thank you for sharing this, it touches the heart of the paradox. Once, tourists were imagined as the missing ingredient, a kind of yeast that would make Main Street rise. Instead, the dough sat heavy, and the crowding came without the flourishing.
You’re right, it’s a Catch-22: foot traffic without storefronts, storefronts without foot traffic. And in between, residents carrying groceries through a performance space they never auditioned for.
“Making lemonade” is a neighborly instinct, I admire it. But I can’t help wondering: who’s been holding the pitcher all these years, and why do we keep getting served the sour without the sweet?
Once upon a time we hoped for tourists so that we could get all the empty commercial spaces filled with businesses that would enhance everyone’s lives. They said the reason no one wanted to take the risk of opening a business was because we don’t get enough street traffic to sustain them. Now we’re getting tons of tourists who crowd us out of the tram but still no additional businesses to fill the empty storefronts. We need to direct these tourists to the main Main Street to get more traffic but there’s not much for them to see or do when they get there so there’s a bit of a Catch 22 going on.
If we are destined to deal with the inconvenience of the tourists traffic we should at least try and make lemonade out of the lemons.
Thank you for sharing this, it touches the heart of the paradox. Once, tourists were imagined as the missing ingredient, a kind of yeast that would make Main Street rise. Instead, the dough sat heavy, and the crowding came without the flourishing.
You’re right, it’s a Catch-22: foot traffic without storefronts, storefronts without foot traffic. And in between, residents carrying groceries through a performance space they never auditioned for.
“Making lemonade” is a neighborly instinct, I admire it. But I can’t help wondering: who’s been holding the pitcher all these years, and why do we keep getting served the sour without the sweet?