Each day I drive through town it seems as if another business has shuttered its doors. Last month the Cadillac/Pontiac dealership closed – it had occupied a choice parcel of land on the Post Road in Westport for over thirty years.
Several restaurants have bitten the dust, even the corner newsagent where I bought milk and a paper went dark. It had been there since I moved into town back in 1992.
At the time Westport was still recuperating from the ’87 crash. The Post Road commercial strip was much different. The building that Blockbuster now occupies was an abandoned hardware store. The old motel became condos. Many of the strip malls underwent a facelift. A collection of homes between the train tracks and the highway became $3m town homes that were never sold.
The post 9/11 boom also brought new restaurants, clothing stores, home decorators and antique shops. Those pesky McMansions kept spreading through town like weeds.
In those halycon days “For Hire” signs hung in the windows of almost every Westport retailer – now many of those same places are empty with real estate vacancy signs. There aren't even jobs at the Stop and Shop – the poster by the front entrance advertising $8+/hr positions with benefits is gone.
I hear people talking about sacrifices here, but I wonder if that means simply downgrading from first class to business.
One thing that’s got me peeved – my favorite store, Trader Joes, has turned into the local hot spot. On weekends you can’t find a place to park. When the Joe first opened folks paid almost twice the price for similar items at Balducci’s and Whole Foods; not anymore.
I love the Joe, so I’m happy they’re doing well; but I long for the good 'ol days when I could get in and out a lot faster.
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Me and my nana circa 1961
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