Peter Miller: Real Estate Cancer - Politics on The Huffington Post
Peter Miller: Real Estate Cancer - Politics on The Huffington Post
My New York City neighborhood is under attack, and not by Al Qaeda. The invaders are corporate chain stores, spreading like a disease through our once healthy community.
Spot on. This is what I've been saying for years: what is New York going to do once the last mom-and-pop is gone? Once Manhattan is just a more cramped New Rochelle?
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NYC has had the good fortune of a population density high enough to have resisted this trend longer than most American cities, but the "chain store" take-over is now officially an old story. If Starbucks can enter Paris, NYC stands little chance.
My greatest objection to chain stores is the chain-restaurant, offering the same 10 bland items that all other chain restaurants offer. But then again, the one advantage I've found with chain restaurants comes from the availability of vegetarian-friendly options. Those mom and pop places were largely useless to me. I'm no fan of Chili's or Olive Garden, but I know there's at least one or two items on their menus that I'm willing to eat, and I can find those places anywhere now. It's perhaps a dull silver lining, but it means something to me.