Will Main Street Return?

There are countless towns that I have driven through wondering what were they like at different points of our history.

Over the last decade, the term “millennial” has become a verb. Each generation is impacted by the world around them. Politics, the economy, evolution, etc. It dictates how they live their lives.

Back in 2008, we began to see millennials take an interest in old careers in new ways. The rise of new consumer products, bakeries, chocolatiers, carpenters, watchmakers, small curated stores, and more artists. Young people, millennials, realized that they could go from job to job or interest to interest while making money and finding themselves. The concept of taking a job and staying there until you get your gold watch upon retirement is long over.

Long live commercial real estate…..at the right price. That will happen at one point. Many of the owners will change hands and hopefully think differently. What is the right price to bring back Main Street?

Neighborhoods can be one long street where you stop by for a loaf of bread and have a little chit-chat with the baker and the peeps that work there. A small community. Or it could be a few short blocks surrounded by apartment buildings and brownstones. In a city there can be thousands of neighborhoods. It is fun to go visit them and see what is on their Main Street.

As the year begins to end, and we all sit in our homes, still in lockdown. At least we are in lockdown, I am looking to the future. The noise that has been pounded in our heads through the pandemic and the past four years is almost over. It has been disrupting and anxiety-ridden. I am hoping we are going to return to a calmness that is excited for a new Main St.

We desperately need leadership to get us there to create new jobs, new tax structures, better transportation and so much more. Think future not past. Think out of the box, not in the same one we have had for decades. If we are not all on the same page, it will take a lot longer for our communities to come back. And that, won’t be good for anyone.