There are businesses in these locations, which is better than there being empty storefronts, but not much.  When I moved to Amherst, one could live in town without needing a car to drive to the Hadley strip.  There was a food market at the site of what is now a CVS Pharmacy, a drugstore where the Subway now is, a bookstore where the Starbucks is located, and every storefront was filled with a local business.  Over the course of time, with whatever the choices and economics have been, what we have in Amherst is chain stores taking money out of the local economy.  This is not strictly a discussion of parking, but like parking, it is a discussion about decisions made by town government shape our town experience.

This Community Action web site was inspired by Claire McGinnis,
Hearings Officer for the Town of Amherst.

Search Engine optimization provided by Freeman Enterprises