It’s not a Ridgewood thing that we no longer have a downtown of butcher, bakers, and candlestick makers. Brick and mortar retail, anywhere, has been dying for years and is now dying at a very rapid rate. Next to wind things up are the banks, closely followed by pharmacies. This might not seem like much of a big deal to most, but these banks pump in a lot in the ways of rents, taxes, employment, and just a physical presence. What we are left with are the service businesses (hair/nail, cafes, & restaurants). The profit margins on these places is razor thin and it’s why they turn over frequently.
No amount of increased parking is going to change anything.
Of course the basic rules of economics could make a return and rents could go down.
The higher the price (cost) of something the less we take of it.
The lower the price (cost), the more we take of it.
I realize that many other towns are also having problems maintaining business. Our greedy landlords are responsible for most of this decline and high prices for parking when all you want is a single item that could easily be found in a neighboring town with less congestion and free parking. It seems that the majority of our Office holders and their friends believe that the average individual income is well over $100,000. If they would open their eyes they would see many people, including the retired, don’t earn that much. But, like I overheard while voting, “I don’t see what your problem is. This is RIDGEWOOD and we can support anything.”
RE: “It’s not a Ridgewood thing that we no longer have a downtown of butcher, bakers, and candlestick makers. “
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This may be true, but we are NOT evolving into a new, modern village in the spirit, tradition, values and essence of Ridgewood. We are moving AWAY from what means to be Ridgewood and into an overpriced, overbuilt, bland, all-the-same-ville town.
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It’s OK that we will never be what we were – progress marches on – but we are losing the special uniqueness that is (was?) Ridgewood.
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