Living Local

For those who see buying local as some bit of snobbery, we offer this eye-opening offering from Metroplis Magazine.

Here's the question. What will life be like when oil goes scarce. The writer, James Howard Kunstler, provides an extremely plausible answer.

I admit it, I'm a sucker for Doomsday scenarios. I'd be interested in hearing from our resident skeptics on the picture Kunstler paints.

There may be one ray of hope for locals:

In my opinion the overall trend will benefit the smaller cities and towns, but only those that can maintain a relationship with productive farming hinterlands or trade via water. The implications for land-use regulation are obviously huge.

Unfortunately, I don't think we've got enough local farmland left. Perhaps Mr. Karp should go Green Acres and erect a farm along the river. Ultimately, that might be where the money is.

Nicely Worded Award of the Day Goes to...

Stephen Tait, for his "City eyes Water Street Site" article.

O'Regan said it is important to separate those two buildings since one is dirty and the other must remain clean for safety, sample testing and for customers who visit the site.

"It is not the best environment for them to go walking into," he said of the current plant, which often smells of the product it treats.

The idea make a lot of sense. The obvious questions are, how will we pay for this? I assume it would be part of any bonding that's done to repair the site. Still, it's a lot of coin.

I also wonder if it's wise to take such a valuable piece of property off the tax rolls. But I suspect the proximity of a wastewater treatment plant diminished the value just a bit.

Adios Chico's

First Chico's was coming. Then it wasn't. Then it was. Then Gillian Swart wrote about the sign we all saw.

Now it turns out it's not coming.

Daily News reports today that twas the economy that killed the formula-store. Chico's will not be coming to town afterall.

I won't got into my Chain Store-ban schpiel. It's evident enough that Newburyport isn't the first, second or third place that volume-hungry chain stores want to be.