Where is the Heart of Your Town?

Before reading this post, please take a moment to reflect on the events of 12 years ago on this date. Never forget, never diminish it in your mind.

When I was a wee lad, I lived in a small town. Tiny, at the time, it has become a city. A small city of a bit over 8000 but still a city. At the time I lived there (1946-1956), the population was much less though I cannot find the data. Our little town had a business district of sorts. It was comprised of maybe 6 blocks; 4 in one direction and 2 in another. Most shopping was done on Main Street, which also held the two banks, the movie theater, the Methodist church, the fire department, the elementary school, and a few luncheonettes (diners, if you will). My father's bicycle shop was on Main across from the school.

It seemed that everything one needed could be found on Main Street. It was a common thing for small towns. "Downtown" was where it was at, you could say. Things have changed, haven't they?

I bring this up because yesterday, as I was driving home from the Wal-Mart, I caught a bit of talk radio where the host lamented the "sprawl" and loss of downtowns, city centers... the "hearts" of towns and cities. His staff (who, unlike most shows of the type, speak on air) wondered how you could find the center of a city like, say, Dallas. You can't. In my little town, it was pretty easy... Main and Conklin. Even after we moved to Florida, to a little city called North Miami Beach, the center of the city held the police station, the city hall, a park but only a few small businesses. Most businesses were found on a main thoroughfare called 163rd street where the shopping center was located.

I have to disagree with that talk show host. The heart of a city is not located in its downtown district. It might have been many years before I was born but things changed radically after World War II. Mostly for the better, I'd say, but you could say I am biased. After all, like most folks, for me history began the day I was born.

I grew up with shopping centers... which became shopping malls... which grew into places you could have put my whole little home town inside. As I was growing up, the technology seers promised domed cities with controlled weather. Shopping malls were what we got. Business districts neatly boxed into a climate controlled building... with atria. Bright, cheery places where all manner of business is conducted. The movie theaters became part of them, as did the little cafes, tobacconists, and just about all the other commercial needs a community might have. Today's teens know this, that's why they congregate there.

Unlike some, I do not bemoan the Wal-Marts, the shopping malls, the suburbanization of America. I think these are Good Things. They reflect the will of the people. If they didn't, they'd fail. And some do. The ones that are not within easy reach of sufficient customers, the ones who do not cater to the average consumer. There are downtowns that thrive. They do so because there are enough people whose average income are suited to the businesses that are there.

Rarely is a shopping mall that thrives built far away from a growing residential neighborhood. And, once the mall is built, more residential housing follows. They have become the new "hearts" of cities and towns.