Make a community a unique place to live

In My Humble Opinion
1

My borough (that’s a town to anyone outside of Pennsylvania) has a population of nearly 3,000. We sit between two larger towns where most people go for the larger necessities of life–movies, theatre, malls with department stores, nicer places to eat, hospitals, etc. Our town has the basics–physician’s offices, a large grocery story, an ACE Hardware…oh and now FOUR Dollar Generaltype stores, the most recent of which just opened this past weekend. (Who is my community is buying all this crap is beyond me, but that’s another thread.)

So, in my disgust of four of the nearly identical stores (all nearly across the street from each other–two are even in the same strip mall), I started wondering what a town of 3,000 people would want, and I’m stumped. Here are the things we already have–tell me what’s missing, or what you’d want in your small town. (This should be a business that you’d actually frequent and be willing to spend money.)

Aside from the above mentioned businesses, we have

[ul]
[li]Barber shop[/li][li]Beauty shops[/li][li]Nail salons[/li][li]Fast food (McDonalds, Subway, Dunkin’ Donuts, lots of Mom and Pop pizza and burger places, couple of diner type eateries)[/li][li]Couple of car wash places[/li][li]Several gas stations[/li][li]Two drug store chains[/li][li]Two consignment stores[/li][li]Chiropractor[/li][li]Several car dealerships (one Ford, one Chevy and one used cars)[/li][li]Service repair (plumbers, electricians, mechanics, etc.)[/li][li]Couple different bank chains[/li][li]Carpet & tile sales[/li][li]Tire store[/li][li]Laundromat[/li][li]Pet Store[/li][li]Vet[/li][li]U-store storage (pay by the month storage facility)[/li][li]Insurance agents [/li][/ul]

We also have some vacant store fronts, places like the Tattoo Shop didn’t last.

So, if I was going to open a business in my small town, what type should I open?

2

nvm

3

Strip Club, especially if the neighboring towns restrict such things.

4

You need a Starbucks across the street, or at least within a few blocks, from another Starbucks, or you aren’t really even a town.

And a couple sports bars with a minimum of 6 jumbo TV screens in each.

Plus at least two cafes with Bistro as part of their name.

5

Once we got a Best Buy, my small town had everything. When I was a kid we had to leave town for everything now I don’t have to go outside our school system (3 small communities) for anything.

Except…a book store. Now that Borders went under we have to go even further for a book store. Like 30 mins away instead of 20.

Granted, I don’t know that book stores are profitable anymore but I always thought one should come through here when they still were.

6

A good bar is one of the more glaring omissions from that list.