Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 08:48:01 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
From: ginna
Subject: It Doesn’t Have to be Like This – the McDonalds Debate
For a few days i was reading the chatlist with the urge to scream and cry at the same time… the debate about McDonalds brought out some really shocking remarks like, “can’t wait for the strip mall” and “thank goodness we have somewhere else to eat besides Hardees and Subway” and of course the whole “if you don’t like it, dont’ go there” argument.
It was so frustrating to see my fellow chathamites clamouring for what is located pretty much 15-20 minutes from anywhere in and around Pittsboro. It doesn’t also have to be located IN Pittsboro. If you are worried about conserving fuel, combine errands or take a friend and make a day of it! Go down to Apex, spend the afternoon and then drive home to beautiful tranquil Pittsboro, where you can see the stars and hear the crickets and be thankful you don’t live in Apex.
Pittsboro is a amazing resource that extends a lot farther than our capacity to have strip malls built all around us. as Chuck Piper alluded to, we have an incredible artist community. and it is not what he reduced it to: artists and hippies… What we actually have here are Internationally renowed Potters, Painters, and Folk Artists. and currently they have a beautiful community to live and display their work in. They have a quaint and Historic Downtown where visitors can go and find unique items. Now, imagine this…. imagine the fact that this is an image that can be sold. this is town that can be promoted. this is a town that can still grow, but at a good rate, and not filled with fast food shops and stores. Pittsboro and Chatham county can be truly great–that is why i opened a store here.
I also went to hear Becky Anderson of Handmade in America speak when she visited Pittsboro recently. This woman has pulled our Western North Carolina out of obscurity and poverty by getting towns to focus on their Assets!!! It is true! you can read about it! for a really inspiring story google “the Perfect Christmas Tree” where you will find a real North Carolina town that was devastated by staggeringly high unemployement after all their textile and furniture factories were located oversees. As it turned out, it was the arts and crafts that saved them. they had to find something that could not be outsourced, that could not be sold at a dollar store–and they found it.
It is possible to make our county and our town into something that will not only bring people in on their way to the beach, but it will bring them for the weekend, to tour the studios, to patronize the local businesses and to really give their money to this town.
I’ll say one little thing about sales tax dollars too: of the 6.75 % tax you pay, only 2.5% of that goes to Chatham County. and it goes to the whole county that’s almost as big as Rhode Island. can those tax dollars really support the infrastructure and impact that strip malls have on a town??? i’ll pose that answer in another question: why are these conglomerates worth billions of dollars while there are cities across America declaring Bankrupcy right now? a cheeseburger brings in 27 cents.. a Siglinda Scarpa teapot: $27 dollars. don’t sell out our town!
I’ll say it again, Pittsboro and Chatham County can be truly great! We have to nurture our assets which are: Historic sights (we’ve got plenty!), Gorgeous natural spaces (we still have a lot!), and an amazing Arts Community(and it is amazing, go on the studio tour this year! stop by Chatham Arts!). if your vision for this community only extends as far as the strip mall parking lot….. whales save us!
Ginna Earl
Vespertine
~crafted beauty~
64 Hillsboro Street, Pittsboro
www.vespertinecafe.com