Downtown

     Today I went to pick up a pair of boots that needed repaired. Not many places to get shoes repaired anymore. As a lot of shoes cannot be repaired. So it is kind of a dying business. But when I went there today I took notice. A dying business on an already dead block. His was the only open business for two blocks on both sides of the street. Every building had a for sale or lease sign in the windows.
     So I took notice and seen that there were a lot of buildings and streets in the same situation. We all know that the downtown areas of cities have been dying for decades. But this was unreal how many empty buildings there are. Many were law offices. Many empty. Many were skeletons of old family business that finally just died out. Several were valiant efforts to make that trendy place to be restaurant. Which may or may not have been that until the next hot spot came along. A skate board shop. Except for people walking to the courthouse a ghost town.
     What could you do with all this real estate? Raise some of the buildings for free parking. Convert a lot of the others to apartments. On one street there are several restaurants and bars. A farmers market. They use this street as the place to go for a lot of civic events. Except for government offices and agencies the place is pretty much dead.