>CBD: The former vibrant downtown, I blame the landlords more than anything else.
Over three decades, I have watched one single owner shop after another disappear because of crazy rent demands. The downtown was vibrant because of these shops that offered something unique and personal to shoppers. Now most of these shops are gone, replaced by mall stores, restaurants and banks, the only ones who can afford to be in Ridgewood thanks to the few greeedy owners of these buildings.
I know of five small business owners with very long established and sucessful shops that had to move or go out of business because of insane rent demands. In one case, the landlord wanted them out, hoping for a bank in place of four shops that he drove away with these tactics. These shops remained vacant for years because of this greed. And who wants to go to mall shops in Ridgewood where parking is limited and you have to feed meters when the malls are only a few minutes away?
I blame the landlords more than anything else.
