This is going to be the start of a little article I am going to do across the Internet. I plan to write several times a week on a variety of subjects. It may be religuous at times, political at times, and at other times just my reactions on something happening out there. It will often be like an op-ed article. If I do what I intend, you will at times want to shout I agree, other times you will want to say Dwight has really lost it now, but most importantly I want to challenge you to think. Feel free to forward this to others. If you don't want to get this e-mail let me know. I have put a number of people I normally correspond with on my list along with several newspapers. Feel free to use what you read from me, but I request you give me credit. Thanks. If you would like to receive it and you are not on my mailing list, send me a note to add you.

Death of the square?

Have you ever looked around and thought of the negative thoughts that you continuously hear? In small towns that I live in I continuously hear how the town is dying and that there are no more stores. Yes, the towns have changed, but are they really dying. The stores that were there 20-30 years ago are often gone, but if you really look in the past ten years is there more there now than there was then. Look at the downtown square. Just a short time ago lots of empty store fronts and buildings falling in. Now store fronts filled and changes occurring of what stores are there. Wal-Mart has appeared but look down the main street and think carefully of how many businesses were not there just a few years ago. Maybe not always the shops we want as an individual, but the growth is there. We so often look at the larger cities and say they have malls in them but do we really want the regional malls in our smaller towns. Look at the continuous drug and crime problems that many malls have. If our little towns were really dying do you really think Sam Walton, as the richest man in America before his death would have built stores in a dying town. He did not get to be the richest investing where he would lose.

Let's start holding our heads higher and look at the positives. Promote among ourselves the growth in our towns of the main street. Yes, we can do better, yes we can get everything in our town, anywhere you go you will always see people going elsewhere to shop. I guess we are just like the old cow; the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Now what town was I talking about more stores along main street, and empty storefronts filling on the square since I moved in? Is it Swainsboro or Elberton? Well in either town if you listen to the conversation on the street, downtown is dying. Yet in Swainsboro I have watched Court Street go from buildings with roofs falling in, and empty hotel building 17 years ago to when I looked around this weekend I saw only one empty store front on the whole square. And that is even after an attempt to burn that old hotel and all of downtown down a few years ago. And what about Elberton? In less than a year, I see someone starting to rebuild one whole block to make a restaurant, and a new radio station on the square, and several other new businesses filling the old Belk's store that was empty when I arrived.

If you are not in either of those two towns I suspect you will find the same thing near you.

Dwight

This is a little article I am doing across the Internet. I plan to write several times a week on a variety of subjects. It may be religious at times, political at times, and at other times just my reactions on something happening out there. It will often be like an op-ed article. If I do what I intend, you will at times want to shout I agree, other times you will want to say Dwight has really lost it now, but most importantly I want to challenge you to think. Feel free to forward this to others. If you don't want to get this e-mail let me know. Feel free to use what you read from me, but I request you give me credit and send a tear sheet if it is printed. Thanks.

If you would like to receive this series and you are not on my mailing list, send me a note to add you. You can find past issues on my home page at http://home.att.net/~dwight-watt/articles/articles.html