5 ms·

Aye, I lived in Ithaca, NY for a while, and they had a local law that the only businesses within the town center could not be franchise stores, and had to be in

by ep103 3y ago

Aye, I lived in Ithaca, NY for a while, and they had a local law that the only businesses within the town center could not be franchise stores, and had to be independently owned. Chain stores could open, but had to do so down the highway about ~2 miles away. It is _incredible_ the difference it makes on town culture, and _how much better it was_

r00fus 3y ago
Ithaca is a special case as it's essentially the main town outside of Cornell University. Not all small towns have a major research university or other dependable benefactor around - most of the small town representatives can easily be bought/bribed by a major chain.
- ep103 3y ago
  Ithaca being a college town definitely brings more money into the town. That definitely adds to the vibrancy. But I think my statement still stands independent of that fact :)
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    Most town centers did not have chains open in them, but the stores in them still died because people preferred shopping at big box stores 2 miles away. A small college town with a reputation of rich kids going to it is probably going to have an outlier amount of single people with extra money to throw around little shops. If they have families and start budgeting, they will be off to Costco and Walmart and Target to save money like the bulk of the US.
    - ep103 3y ago
      This is an understandable sentiment, but I do not think it applies in this case. In the case of Ithaca, most single young people live closer to the colleges, and drive or bus to the chain stores. The actual town, I think, survives on the individual shop mentality because the physical layout of the town. The Ithaca town square is physically designed to be the physcial, social and cultural center of the town, which allows the shops there an advantage of being a center of the community, completely surrounded on all sides by walkable residential living. This gives them a competitive advantage, that lets them compete with the bigger box stores which require taking a bus or car a few minutes downtown to arrive at.
gottorf 3y ago
Downtown Ithaca most likely would have been just as vibrant without that law. It's a town with a higher median household income than the US as a whole, plus two colleges, both of which cost >$50k a year to attend. The students, especially of Cornell, are a great and continuing source of relatively price-insensitive consumers. Chapel Hill, NC has a Target smack dab in the middle of downtown, and everyone would agree that it's an idyllic college town with a wonderful culture.
- slater- 3y ago
  i respectfully disagree. the "wonderful culture" chapel hill is known for is a memory from the 80s and 90s. the target store that opened on franklin street is maybe the most blatant sign of the shitty generic direction the town has been going in. it's a nice memory though. here's to the squirrel nut zippers.

by ep103 3y ago

r00fus 3y ago

Ithaca is a special case as it's essentially the main town outside of Cornell University. Not all small towns have a major research university or other dependable benefactor around - most of the small town representatives can easily be bought/bribed by a major chain.

ep103 3y ago
Ithaca being a college town definitely brings more money into the town. That definitely adds to the vibrancy. But I think my statement still stands independent of that fact :)
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  Most town centers did not have chains open in them, but the stores in them still died because people preferred shopping at big box stores 2 miles away. A small college town with a reputation of rich kids going to it is probably going to have an outlier amount of single people with extra money to throw around little shops. If they have families and start budgeting, they will be off to Costco and Walmart and Target to save money like the bulk of the US.
  - ep103 3y ago
    This is an understandable sentiment, but I do not think it applies in this case. In the case of Ithaca, most single young people live closer to the colleges, and drive or bus to the chain stores. The actual town, I think, survives on the individual shop mentality because the physical layout of the town. The Ithaca town square is physically designed to be the physcial, social and cultural center of the town, which allows the shops there an advantage of being a center of the community, completely surrounded on all sides by walkable residential living. This gives them a competitive advantage, that lets them compete with the bigger box stores which require taking a bus or car a few minutes downtown to arrive at.

gottorf 3y ago

Downtown Ithaca most likely would have been just as vibrant without that law. It's a town with a higher median household income than the US as a whole, plus two colleges, both of which cost >$50k a year to attend. The students, especially of Cornell, are a great and continuing source of relatively price-insensitive consumers. Chapel Hill, NC has a Target smack dab in the middle of downtown, and everyone would agree that it's an idyllic college town with a wonderful culture.

slater- 3y ago
i respectfully disagree. the "wonderful culture" chapel hill is known for is a memory from the 80s and 90s. the target store that opened on franklin street is maybe the most blatant sign of the shitty generic direction the town has been going in. it's a nice memory though. here's to the squirrel nut zippers.