The importance of supporting local businesses
I am back in my hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia for a brief visit and the first thing that his struck my attention is how badly our downtown core looks.
Why? Because half of the downtown shops have closed up. It’s distressing. As someone who prefers to be in an urban, walkable environment, I tend to avoid the suburbs. I dislike large, sprawling shopping areas with parking areas the size of football fields. My city seems to have, like other cities, poured all of its attention into these massive driver-friendly suburban mega-shopping experiences.
It makes me sad. These massive shopping areas are nearly inaccessible to pedestrians in their side-of-freeway locations, but they’re also draining downtown of all its clientele. Everyone is driving their vehicles to these area instead of taking public transit to the downtown core to do their shopping.
The shift has resulted in half of the businesses in our city centre to be closed & boarded up. I noticed a few of them vacant on my last visit home, but this time there were more. Which means that most of these buildings have been vacant for a year. Beautiful, historic boutique spaces for rent in a prime location, which have sat empty, whilst countless new box stores and restaurants in the suburbs have sprung up.
I understand that space in the suburbs is cheaper, but it also unfortunately supports a car-supported culture, and thats the last thing my humble hometown needs.
So, people of Halifax, and all around North America… please, try to support local businesses. Especially in the downtown core. Support & Keep a pedestrian & bike friendly culture alive. Eventually, we won’t have a downtown core at all if this trend continues.
xx
