VACANT LOTS, VACANT BUILDINGS, PARKING LOTS

Vacancy of any thing, whether the brain cavity of moderns who pursue inane and unproductive pursuits and tend to fill the space or vacuum of the brain cavity with fantasies and other things, has its consequences which old timers often discuss and mention or mutter among themselves. AS many have noted, the 'downtown' of CLAREMONT, NEW HAMPSHIRE, the town that pretends it is a city, consists of vacant store fronts, that undergo a continual bingo game of relocation, opening up, and shutting down of various business ventures, none of which are really supported by a business friendly community or the town fathers, whoever they wish to be and whatever else they call themselves, save for a few entrenched and die-hards, with vested interests, and who consist not of a status-quo mentality but who may not have ever lived in the prosperous times of Claremont and do not understand the source of their reluctance re-build,what some have called'THE SPIRIT OF CLAREMONT". I once remarked to the present manager, one of many who have graced the town with their esteemed presences, that the first thing anyone driving into Claremont or through it, especially any who might have an inkling or urge to settler in THE HEART OF THE TWIN-STATE VALLEY(the one created between VERMONT & NEW HAMPSHIRE by the CONNECTICUT RIVER and sometimes called 'The Connecticut River Valley) is NOT THE SCHOOLS, THE TOWN CLOCK, THE BIG BOX STORES, THE PEOPLE, THE INDUSTRIES,ETC. BUT: the roads and sidewalks and streets and eventually the store fronts and vacant lots and numerous parking lots that have nearly leveled the town,especially on BROAD STREET, once one the more prosperous and scenic areas of the town, to a LEVEL PLAIN(plane).... The manager had no idea who I was but he did know the person with whom I was chatting that day in front of the POST OFFICE(that institution soon on its way to extinction thanks mostly to government policies that have it with one foot in government and the other in private enterprise) he did know as he had had some sessions of various kinds or discussions,etc. But I knew who the manager was because I had seen and looked intently at him a few times when he was wandering about the streets in search of something,perhaps looking to see how he could improve the town in some way,or bring in bigger and better businesses, if not industries of some scale,whether large or small...... To his credit the very next week a sidewalk and road improvement began and eventually new, attractive street signs were erected to help continuall confused CLAREMONTERS find the streets that 9-11 had RENAMED often with ridiculous results and if the police, firemen, and taxis could not learn the old names, then how can be be sure they would know the new ones any better...given their dependence on GPS and spelling abilities among other talents needed to keep law and order in the 'crime-ridden' area,where some discussions of unsolved murders are still one everyone's tongue form time to time... No, I am not claiming that the manager listened to me directly as he,no doubt, was getting this message from some others who were,not in some instances, members of his'fan club' but he does deserve credit for a few things they will have to perhaps grudgingly acknowledge since he no longer commutes, apparently, to the Bay State.....and has gone 'granite', rubbing shoulders with the ex-flatlanders who pride themselves as not being newly transplanted as well as the 'natives'....