Revitalizing Brookline: Embrace Change!

I've had a number of comments about my blogs, both on the Patch and via e-mail, from people who have lived in the neighborhood for a long time. These folks, to varying degrees, are taking some umbrage to the suggestions I've made. Nobody has been rude or mean, but most of the posts come down to the same thing: who am I to suggest changes to the way things are?

This is indicative of an experience a friend had when she tried to attend chamber of commerce meetings and get involved, herself. Every suggestion she had was met with resistance by a group of long-time residents who were more than happy to maintain the status quo. They were particularly resistant to the "upstart" notion that a big chain business like Panera could help to revitalize the community. And it's unfortunate that many of these folks are resistant to the idea of young people and ideas shaking things up in their nice, quiet neighborhood.

One person even suggested to me, in regards to my post about businesses changing their hours to support working folks, that it was me who should change. I should figure out a way to get to businesses when they're opening, instead of businesses adapting to better serve their clientele.

Listen, folks, the world is not the same as it was even ten years ago. Things are evolving at light speed, and it's making many of us uncomfortable. Entire shopping malls are closing down because of competition from the Internet. Libraries are in danger across the country because either people don't realize they offer more than books, or because they're failing to adapt to the changing times and embrace new technologies and ideas. Dylan saw it coming way back in the 60's: "the times they are a-changin'."

Going back to libraries for a moment, we have another microcosm of what's going on at the larger level. I attended a meeting of the Carnegie Library's strategic planning committee for the coming year, and there were several retirees in attendance who very loudly decried the idea of having game nights for teens or community events because they felt libraries "should be quiet buildings with books where I don't have to deal with noisy kids."

I'm really sorry to break this, but libraries will die if they continue to be quiet buildings with books, and we cannot allow libraries to die because retirees don't want them to evolve.

Why bring this up? Because the same phenomenon is going on at the larger level in our community. A number of long-time residents want to maintain the status quo. "We like our quiet neighborhood just the way it is, and we don't want noisy young upstarts moving in."

Unfortunately, to keep Brookline vital, to keep it from falling into urban decay, those young upstarts are exactly what are needed, in the form of new, hip businesses. The politicians need to move out, or at least move into smaller buildings. Brookline is becoming the "home of campaign headquarters," and it's frankly hurting our local economy. There's no reason most of these city council, mayoral, and even state rep candidates need such large office spaces, while businesses like Geekadrome are stuck in hole-in-the-wall-sized spaces. Geekadrome is often packed, and I can only imagine how popular it'd be if it had more space to include more inventory.

Cultural and Ethnic businesses like the Las Palmas, Isis Cafe, Pitaland, and the new African grocery (whose name, I apologize, escapes me) are also great attractions, if they can get the word out. Pitaland is apparently installing a cafe, which is an awesome thing.

But there are so many empty storefronts, and storefronts that seem like they'd be prime real estate if someone could draw attention to them. There's a large storefront right on the Boulevard that appears to have once been a banquet hall, between Decio's and Gordon's. What's in there? It appears to be some sort of tech-related business, but that's all I know about it, and wow, what a waste of prime space if it's as large inside as I suspect (and as the empty marquee over the front door would imply).

Eljay's used books, once a staple of the South Side, recently moved to Dormont on West Liberty Avenue. A good area, to be sure, but what if we could've gotten them on Brookline Boulevard instead? That would've been a major attraction. How about a guitar and/or music store in Brookline? Or a Game Stop, which would neatly complement Geekadrome?

That new, hip businesses are needed on the boulevard is a given if the community is to be revitalized. There's no argument about this, and "we don't want those upstarts in here," is not a valid response. Some long-time residents may not want a younger set moving in, but some of us in the "between" years, in our 30's and 40's, also don't want to see Brookline suffer the fate of other neighborhoods that were once vital and refused to adapt to changing times. It would be disingenuous to state names, and really, that would just offend people, but I'm sure everyone can think of a few. The real trick is to find a way to attract these businesses, and I'm afraid on that front I've got little in the way of suggestions. I think things like street fairs are a great start, if the word can be gotten out to draw people from outside our neighborhood to attend. It would bring money into local businesses and also give prospective new business owners a chance to see what the community offers.

Brookline is a really awesome place to live, and getting new, young, hip, and cultural businesses to open up shop on the boulevard will not in any way harm the neighborhood--it will only help it grow and flourish. Fear of change is akin to death. As Dylan said, "if you're not busy living, you're busy dying."