November 4, 2018

"Wealthy individuals... well-funded nonprofits and even corporations like Walmart have begun buying deserted American main streets, hoping to reinvent them with a fresh aesthetic."

"The people behind these ventures frequently install their friends and acquaintances in storefronts, while attempting to preserve (or exploit, depending whom you ask) local history.... In addition to the art gallery [in Mountain Dale, NY], there’s an antiques store specializing in old-timey Americana, a vintage shop run by a breeder of Angora bunnies, a conceptual boutique that also shows art and an apothecary run by a fashion model.... Similar changes are happening in Wardensville, W.Va..... Over the last five years, Paul Yandura and his partner Donald Hitchcock purchased a handful of buildings there.... 'It’s about the nostalgia, the country, being out in fresh air,' Mr. Yandura said. The couple, former L.G.B.T.Q. activists and Democratic operatives, turned an old feed store into a fancy coffee shop and country market called the Lost River Trading Post, keeping many of the original details, like the grain chute. They renovated a ramshackle farmhouse into a bakery and started an organic farm... Many longtime residents still prefer to patronize Wardensville restaurants that either predate Mr. Yandura and Mr. Hitchcock’s activity or that locals have since opened... Mr. Yandura said he gets it: 'We’re creating a sense of place, but a sense of place is a tourist activity.'"

From "Can You Curate a Town?/Even Walmart wants to bring back ye olde Main Street" (NYT).

38 comments:

Seeing Red said...

So a bunch of rich Dems wants to recreate that which they mock and destroy, things possibly dead white people have built to make a buck? Because they don’t have enough and want to use other people's Money to support their causes while mocking said people?

Phil 314 said...

Do they have a business plan or a market analysis?

mccullough said...

Wealthy progressives and their money. Good to know for the other side when they want to start taunting and harassing progressive swells.

These places are the ones with no guns allowed stickers on the door.

Seeing Red said...

Since the non-profits are so well-funded, perhaps they should be targeting their money to the cause they’re designed for.

W was going to revamp NFP rules and the pushback was tremendous.

It really needs to be done and they need to be audited to the penny.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Main Street to Douche Street. There are hundreds of useful retail possibilities that could thrive handily even in a world dominated by Amazon and Wal-Mart. But let’s fill our downtowns with twee crap.

David Begley said...

I want to see their income statements.

tim in vermont said...

I don't care what they do with their own money.

Rob said...

I have no problem with it except for the possibility of a random sighting of Lena Dunham. We should be able to know that so long as we stay out of Brooklyn, we're safe from that. If Dunham is going to go free-range, could we at least hang a large bell around her neck?

Scott said...

Leftist plutocrats and large corporations creating Potemkin economies full of Asian restaurants, coffee shops, and clothing stores with merchandise that appeals to people who are just like the owners. What happens when the rich people get tired of subsidizing the buildings and people who are their playthings?

Feeding the fantasies of the little people is sad and cruel.

Fernandinande said...

Walmart’s foray into place creation is more of a head scratcher.

"Place creation" is even more of a head scratcher.

“We’re creating a sense of place, but a sense of place is a tourist activity.”

Is "creating a sense of place" the same thing as "place creation"?

The place was packed with artist types, but also locals wearing flannel shirts and work boots without a trace of irony.

Those deplorable locals might not be capable of irony.

Scott said...

Creating a sense of place is sort of like creating a sense of space, only different.

RMc said...

According to the 2010 census, Wardensville, West Virginia has 271 people, of whom 261 are white.

rhhardin said...

Ye olde Amazon pickup store is needed.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I dislike the word "curate" and wish it would go away.

Seeing Red said...

Why don’t they just create an amusement park?

tcrosse said...

Marie Antoinette had something similar at Le Petit Trianon, and look what happened to her.

Seeing Red said...

All those wasted degrees need jobs. Those are their kids and spouses. Why not Main Street?

Scott said...

Curating iconic places by empowering entrepreneurs to create sustainable, culturally sensitive spaces.

JHapp said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JHapp said...

They need to support some schools, teachers and administrators and learn what the real world is like.

etbass said...

Progressives really are crazy.

Maillard Reactionary said...

Your town will be curated.

Old-timey Americans need not apply.

It's for our own good.

Darrell said...

Shipa Town. Short for shitty part of town.
South Park already did it.

tim in vermont said...

If you create your own artisanal dictionary, you could leave out curate.

rcocean said...

Creative destruction leads to minor repair job.

Titus said...

Sounds fabulous.

Titus said...

The Uihleins, big republican donors, did the same thing in manitowish waters. Think spas, b&b, flowers, landscapes, etc.

Howard said...

Deplorables too busy bitching about what others accomplish to be bothered to lift a finger themselves. It's why Trump loves you so

tcrosse said...

Howard has his eye on a yarn and cupcake shop in downtown Chicken Fingers, Kansas.

Seeing Red said...

Deplorables too busy bitching about what others accomplish to be bothered to lift a finger themselves. It's why Trump loves you so


You’re trotting out the politics of envy?
A lefty?


Bwaaaaaaaaaaaa


Howard said...

My dream is a cat hair and doughnut shop in Furball Kentucky.

Flat Tire said...

God, I'm sick of "curate".

William said...

I hope Mr. Hitchcock stocks the curio store with a large assortment of McGuffins. Old fashioned microfilm canisters have so much more charm than flash drives.

JAORE said...

A very few years ago we heard, "Those jobs aren't coming back". If asked, we'd have heard, "Just like those small towns aren't coming back".

But now that there is hope in the air and enthusiasm for the economic rebirth.....

chickelit said...

Disney pioneered the basic idea. Recreate yesteryear main street facades where people can buy things. People love it!

Achilles said...

You all are missing the forest for the trees.

What are we going to do when humans, or some percentage so small as to approach 0, are no longer needed to work and produce the things we need to live?

Leland said...

Chip and Joanne did this several years ago. Way to go NYT in covering the old.

BudBrown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.