The Local Business Crisis

The number of local businesses in New York City has been steadily declining in part due to the forces of gentrification. What has been happening is that areas that used to house lower income people are now housing wealthier people. These wealthier people do not frequent local businesses and instead choose to go to more upscale businesses. Along with the decreased income these local businesses also face increased rent. Landlords who want to drive out these local businesses to make way for more profitable businesses increase the rent tremendously and these businesses have no alternative but to leave the place they have working for so long. As professors Zukin stated in her interview local government also plays a part in destruction of local shopping streets. While gentrification raises the rents that shop owners must pay the local government also raises the property taxes for single landlords to raise the rents higher. This affected David Owens a vintage shop owner on the lower East side when his landlord gave him a bill for $40,000 in property taxes. Instead of pay David Owens moved his shop a few blocks down the street where he can manage to pay the rent. While lower East side of New York has been subject to increasing rents for retail shops it’s still not nearly as high as places like the meatpacking district and Soho. While local shopping streets aren’t dying breed many people have been fighting for their existence and trying to ways awareness for the problem facing local shopkeepers. One such movement that is trying to raise awareness about the problems facing local shops is the take back to New York movement. This movement argues that it is not fighting for nostalgia it is only fighting for the right of successful local businesses to exist, employ people, and be a part of the community. While this is A good start for helping sustain local businesses it will not be enough. I believe the most important thing for local businesses to survive is the adoption of new technology to reach more customers. While people enjoy visiting local businesses they usually only visit businesses with an online presence. These local businesses can take advantage of the growing hipster movement that seeks to move away from produced products and consume new and creative ideas such as those offered by local business.

Three questions I would ask a local businesses owner would be:

1. Why did you choose to open a business and why did you choose this location?
2. What are the major problems facing local businesses like yours?
3. How has the community you working in affected your business?