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Health & Fitness

Shopping from the Neighbors

Emily (my wife) and I – being who we are – have recently been in a little competition.  We go out to shop and eat locally as much as we can.  Lately, we’ve been jumping to see who can ask for the manager or owner the fastest as each of us is currently collecting donations: She for a school fundraiser, and I for Walk Bike Week and for the Economic Development Commission’s Business Excellence Awards.  We’ve done things like this for a while, and we also know most of these owners pretty well now.

Each of the businesses involved is locally owned, and usually is more than happy to make a contribution of some kind to the City and its organizations.  Maybe it makes some promotional business sense for them of course, but more importantly they just feel that it’s the right thing to do.  They are part of the community too, after all.  

It was partially because of this kind of interaction that I wrote a few years ago about why we should be supporting the local merchants.  However I also know that there are some things we can be doing as a City to make it easier to run a small business.  I also think that we have an opportunity to engage the landlord community to voice their own needs and to present some ideas on what we would like to see in return.  Such a dialogue can only hope to enhance the village centers that we already cherish. 

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While we wait for that to happen, please keep the local merchants and restaurants in mind.  (Oh, and I’ll try to remind everyone again when we get to the holidays).  I am as guilty as anyone of ordering from Amazon or from doing a run to Target on occasion.  However, I think it is also important that we keep our minds open to the things that our local merchants offer. 

On top of the community reasons I’ve already put forth, there are simple, selfish reasons.  Like the incredible toys one can find on Lincoln Street that you will not find anywhere else, but which are only a short walk or ride away.  Or the incredible pieces of handmade jewelry in a shop of Union Street, tagged by someone with the handwriting of an architect.  Believe it or not, a few banks where they actually know who you are and can point you to a great local cultural event.  And each of our hardware stores, which actually understand what it’s like to own and try to maintain a house that’s seen many generations of homeowner before you.

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And if we continue to do the things that keep good merchants and restaurants successful, perhaps we can go a way to encouraging a few more to come into the villages.

Chris Steele is running for the city-wide office of Alderman at Large, Ward 5.  You can learn more at www.steele4newton.org or by contacting him at steelch@yahoo.com

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