You don't have to patronize your local diner or coffeeshop. Butif you don't grab a bite there from time to time, and if your neighbors are also not steering a few bucks to the business each month, it might have plywood screwed over the plate glass the next time you go buy. I wouldn't patronize a business with terrible food and terrible service JUST because it's a local biz. But I think it is a good practice to spend a bit of money in good local businesses from time to time, if you like having mom and pop-run neighborhood shops and services available.
I don't think there is any "duty" to spend money on local establishments, but it's important to support the ones you like - ones that you feel you get value from - if you want them to remain. But this brings up an interesting comment about third spaces since you mentioned it. In the US those spaces typically are commercial establishments that have either an implicit or even explicit contract that you must spend money to be there. My experience in other parts of the world is that this "contract" is much looser.
That's interesting. Yeah, and for better or worse most places to just hang out are also businesses. I don't know if that's true in the biggest cities like it is in suburbia, i.e. whether it's about density or about America having a more commercial culture than Europe
I think there is a duty going both ways. There is a duty to walk to neighborhood retail, but the retailer's duty is to provide good products and good service. There are neighborhood retailers that I refuse to frequent. I am trying to be their customer, but they do not want my business very much.
Interesting. We have a local micro brewery that has worked very hard to have no required parking (and using their available gravel space for people) because they don't want people to drive there. They want it to be a local place where people walk and different from what you say, don't want people to come from a driving distance. Like I said, in your case, I would feel no duty to patronize that establishment.
If you've got to force it, it's not worth it. When you pack a bunch of people together, you get useful commerce. Whether it's a cool restaurant or CVS getting their umbrellas out from storage when it rains or someone selling folding chairs on the edge of the parade.
"I need to shop to support my community" is a message that tends to come from a community that isn't dense enough to support as much commerce as people want
I think this is the essence of my view. It's analogous to urbanists very consciously riding transit to "support" it. If it really worked and competed on the merits, there would be no notion of "support" - it would just be a live, competitive option. (I love transit, but I use it when it's convenient and useful, which I wish were more often.) I think what a lot of people want is the conveniences of density without the people, which is one of the things that falls under choosing some inconvenience to get more in the long run.
Nineteenth-century Houston was not very dense, but it still supported neighborhood businesses. Density is probably a requirement for facilitating a wide range of neighborhood retail, but not for basic stuff. The problem is that we have cars, stroads, parking, bad supply chains, and bad property tax laws conspiring against neighborhood businesses.
To add to your points, in some cities, highways and their associated infrastructure act as barriers to city dwellers who are getting around on foot or bicycle.
In Ottawa, the city is cut in half by the big trans-Canada highway. Neighborhoods that are side-by-side on the map are hard to move between on foot. The city is remedying this with pedestrian footbridges, but they are costly and so few have been built.
I think people should support what they value having in their community. If you prefer cooking at home, I can't ask you to eat out just to help my favorite restaurants stay in business. If you don't care about having restaurants in your community, it's not your problem.
I do think people should try to buy things locally that they DO want to buy, instead of on Amazon etc. I try hard to check local stores before reflexively ordering online. This noble impulse is thwarted by those local business frustratingly often, though, when they don't carry what I want or don't have it in stock or the staff are unhelpful. I do feel bad for them that I am comparing them to the ease of being able to get almost anything in the world delivered to my door in a few days, but that is the way of the world now.
This is exactly my feeling on this tension. I could buy every gallon of milk at my local supermarket chain, but I stop into my neighborhood grocery store at least a few times a month because I want it to continue existing. It employs local teens, it sponsors Little League teams, it's a place my kids can walk to with a $10 bill when I discover whoops, I'm out of a dinner ingredient, get on your bike and go get me this thing I forgot.
As a child/former employee of a small business owner though, regarding not having what you want or not having it in stock, any business owner worth their salt should be trying to solve those problems for you. I'll use an example from a hardware store since that's what my dad owned; if you need a new leaf blower, he doesn't carry those all year round (not in stock) due to space limitations. But he can order it for you, probably even the same one that you found online. The tradeoff is it'll arrive next week and you'll most likely have to come pick it up in store. But from his perspective that's 1) a guaranteed sale to a 2) satisfied customer. That's HUGE! And all because you were willing to not have it delivered to your doorstep tomorrow! In our "everything at the touch of a button always" this can seem like an enormous inconvenience, but it keeps small businesses alive if they have customers who are willing to adopt this mindset AND see the value in their continued existence.
yeah but exactly the problem is that the small businesses don't always step up like that. case in point, a few weeks ago I wanted to buy a guitar from a local place instead of a big chain. went to a local place that had the specific guitar on their website, but their website was wrong and it wasn't in stock. the guy said he'd call to find out when they would get it in and call me. But he never called me.
In this case I did find a similar guitar at another local shop, but if I had wanted to stick with my first choice, I don't think anyone could blame me for going to the chain or Amazon at that point. And this is not an uncommon sort of experience for me. I really do try to support local businesses but sometimes local businesses make it hard.
I associate restaurants with youth. When you leave home, you know only mom's home cooking. How are you going to know what Chinese, Persian, Nepalese, Indian, Thai, Ethiopian, Ukrainian, or even Italian are if you don't have a restaurant to give you a big broad hint? I remember my family's first and only visit to a real Italian restaurant where I fell in love with Ricotta cheese. Mom's spaghetti didn't get anywhere near this. Then you learn you have to go to the country to get the full picture.
While cycling through France, I made it my goal to spend more on my major meal of the day than I did on my bed in a hostel. Unconsciousness is pretty much the same no matter how much you spend for it.
I'm planning to buy a camper van soon and hope I can drive to some really good cheap restaurants. I find the reviews in Tripadvisor the most helpful.
BTW, there was an old WDC joke current in the 90s that covered this phenomenon: “Every time there is a revolution in the third world two new ethnic restaurants open in Bethesda." Update by subbing “the Global South."
I think about this stuff ALL the time! I don't feel a duty, per se, but I do think about the fact that if we want places to keep existing, we do need to support them.
I have seen enough campaigns to “Support your local/small/independent business” to know that it’s not something we automatically do without a little nudge. The communitarian value of frequenting third places (to do more than work on your laptop) and the broader values of proximity and chrono-urbanism are more than sufficient reasons to promote and to be committed to supporting your local economy and helping to ensure that local entrepreneurs will continue to take the risk of opening a restaurant or a bookstore or other enterprises for which we have free or lower cost options.
This reminds me of reading about historic Catholic churches being closed due to the parishes being merged—and the ensuing outrage from locals, who often were no longer active parishioners. (They didn’t attend services, tithe, have their children baptized, etc.) I sympathize with them, but it’s hard not to point out what should be obvious: if no one is participating in and supporting the parish, then it is no longer needed, and perhaps should no longer exist—especially if there is no will or money to do that.
Also, while I do agree that local, small businesses should “earn” their customers’ patronage, in practice I do find myself willing to pay higher prices at the local bookstore, for instance, than I might by using Amazon. A big reason for this is because I can walk to the bookstore; I don’t know if I would feel the same way if I had to drive to the bookstore. I know it’s not quite the same as dining in a restaurant, but I do feel it’s related.
The related point I do think is valid is that if you like having local restaurants, shops, coffee shops, etc., then there have to be enough people around to support those businesses. More neighbors means more businesses and more choices for you!
We moved to our neighborhood because there were coffee shops, bars, and restaurants within a short walk from our house. It's /really/ easy for us to get to those places, even when its 100*, so we visit pretty frequently. It was the same when we lived in Manhattan, where there were dozens of businesses within minutes of our front door. These places are often on the way to other places we might be traveling on foot, so it's super convenient to pop in for a coffee or snack on the way. When there's a density of desirable things, duty isn't part of the equation. It's just easy.
There is no duty to spend, but there is a duty not to complain about the results of one's spending (or lack of it). I've seen too many times where a highly regarded locally owned restaurant has gone out of business despite endless praise. Often, it turns out that people like the idea of diverse, independent restaurants but don't make the effort to support them, especially at slow times. Instead, they default to the path of least resistance, whether that's a chain restaurant or meal kit delivery services. Then, they complain that their neighborhood is bereft of interesting places.
People who behave that way trouble me far more than people who enjoy cooking at home, something I like to do myself. In my experience, people who enjoy cooking and do it well are often the most appreciative of good restaurants. Even the best home cooks get tired of their own style and welcome a break. I wouldn't worry about their economic impact. Even when they're cooking at home and not going to restaurants, they're more likely to support independent food purveyors and local farmers markets, which are just as important to a vibrant urban economy as good restaurants.
I don't feel a duty to support my local restaurants and bars but I will say that when choosing to spend my food dollars at restaurants rather than cooking myself, I'm more likely to choose one of my neighborhood, independent businesses.
I see these restaurants as an extension of my home, run by people who invested in my neighborhood. And in some cases there are rituals associated with them -- for example, the local brewery is where we always go after our twice-monthly community bike rides.
We’ve recently moved to a tiny town but it was well researched moved, anticipating retirement.
I did a trial contract gig first and made sure of all the basics; pharmacy, hardware store, good grocery store, hospital, post office, library, transit, gym with indoor pool, some restaurants, schools etc.
The pharmacy will order anything I want- yeah it’s cheaper on Amazon.
I WANT to keep a pharmacy in town.
Next town over is 56 miles and requires a drive around a picturesque lake with a curved road which is sometimes icy..
There’s a notorious DC-area instagram page which is known for, let’s call it “spirited debate” in the comments section. Whenever they ask for people to shout out their favorite bar or restaurant in the city, one of the top comments is without fail some variation of “my house/my kitchen”. This is partially a response to people’s frustration with the cost of eating/drinking out. But there’s also a strain of miserly, misanthropic, stay-at-home attitude I feel is reflected here. Like really, there’s not *one* neighborhood mom and pop restaurant or dive which you feel like doesn’t get enough love?
I don’t think anyone necessarily has a moral obligation to spend their money on anything. But it’s undeniable that even eating at home is fraught with issues of localism. A lot of grocery stores are plugged into national rather than local food networks. It’s undeniably the case that most of the money you spend at your “local” Whole Foods or Costco is leaving your community.
Interesting piece and fully agree on the tension of loving local businesses while also not going out of my way to spend more than I need to.
My overall impression of businesses in the DMV area is that they are way too large, in the sense of literal square footage. This raises the costs of maintaining, say, a local restaurant and incentivizes businesses to appeal to as wide of demographic as possible. I wonder if we allowed much smaller businesses (across the spectrum from food stalls to 500sq ft restaurants, we would allow more niche businesses to develop, and lower costs in a way that give these local businesses staying power.
Response on food stalls and other micro-businesses like food carts and trucks. Incumbent bricks and mortar businesses in some cities push for strict regulations on micro-businesses that make it hard to operate. For example, a food cart may not be allowed within XXX feet of an existing food business. In developing countries, the opposite is true: at street corners, there are carts and vendors selling snacks, maps and newspapers.
A local smoothie shop owner who operated just steps away from a local coffee shop didn’t worry too much about competition from her neighbor. She had already experienced owning a coffee shop in Hawaii when Starbucks first came to town, and instead of driving the locals out of business it just created a culture of consumers who developed the habit of buying coffee every day - from both the chains and the locals. Her business thrived. Restaurants who try to regulate competition might be hurting themselves more by missing out on an expanded customer base of people who have so many good local dining options that they go out to eat when they don’t feel like cooking.
You don't have to patronize your local diner or coffeeshop. Butif you don't grab a bite there from time to time, and if your neighbors are also not steering a few bucks to the business each month, it might have plywood screwed over the plate glass the next time you go buy. I wouldn't patronize a business with terrible food and terrible service JUST because it's a local biz. But I think it is a good practice to spend a bit of money in good local businesses from time to time, if you like having mom and pop-run neighborhood shops and services available.
I don't think there is any "duty" to spend money on local establishments, but it's important to support the ones you like - ones that you feel you get value from - if you want them to remain. But this brings up an interesting comment about third spaces since you mentioned it. In the US those spaces typically are commercial establishments that have either an implicit or even explicit contract that you must spend money to be there. My experience in other parts of the world is that this "contract" is much looser.
That's interesting. Yeah, and for better or worse most places to just hang out are also businesses. I don't know if that's true in the biggest cities like it is in suburbia, i.e. whether it's about density or about America having a more commercial culture than Europe
I think there is a duty going both ways. There is a duty to walk to neighborhood retail, but the retailer's duty is to provide good products and good service. There are neighborhood retailers that I refuse to frequent. I am trying to be their customer, but they do not want my business very much.
Interesting. We have a local micro brewery that has worked very hard to have no required parking (and using their available gravel space for people) because they don't want people to drive there. They want it to be a local place where people walk and different from what you say, don't want people to come from a driving distance. Like I said, in your case, I would feel no duty to patronize that establishment.
If you've got to force it, it's not worth it. When you pack a bunch of people together, you get useful commerce. Whether it's a cool restaurant or CVS getting their umbrellas out from storage when it rains or someone selling folding chairs on the edge of the parade.
"I need to shop to support my community" is a message that tends to come from a community that isn't dense enough to support as much commerce as people want
I think this is the essence of my view. It's analogous to urbanists very consciously riding transit to "support" it. If it really worked and competed on the merits, there would be no notion of "support" - it would just be a live, competitive option. (I love transit, but I use it when it's convenient and useful, which I wish were more often.) I think what a lot of people want is the conveniences of density without the people, which is one of the things that falls under choosing some inconvenience to get more in the long run.
Nineteenth-century Houston was not very dense, but it still supported neighborhood businesses. Density is probably a requirement for facilitating a wide range of neighborhood retail, but not for basic stuff. The problem is that we have cars, stroads, parking, bad supply chains, and bad property tax laws conspiring against neighborhood businesses.
To add to your points, in some cities, highways and their associated infrastructure act as barriers to city dwellers who are getting around on foot or bicycle.
In Ottawa, the city is cut in half by the big trans-Canada highway. Neighborhoods that are side-by-side on the map are hard to move between on foot. The city is remedying this with pedestrian footbridges, but they are costly and so few have been built.
I think people should support what they value having in their community. If you prefer cooking at home, I can't ask you to eat out just to help my favorite restaurants stay in business. If you don't care about having restaurants in your community, it's not your problem.
I do think people should try to buy things locally that they DO want to buy, instead of on Amazon etc. I try hard to check local stores before reflexively ordering online. This noble impulse is thwarted by those local business frustratingly often, though, when they don't carry what I want or don't have it in stock or the staff are unhelpful. I do feel bad for them that I am comparing them to the ease of being able to get almost anything in the world delivered to my door in a few days, but that is the way of the world now.
This is exactly my feeling on this tension. I could buy every gallon of milk at my local supermarket chain, but I stop into my neighborhood grocery store at least a few times a month because I want it to continue existing. It employs local teens, it sponsors Little League teams, it's a place my kids can walk to with a $10 bill when I discover whoops, I'm out of a dinner ingredient, get on your bike and go get me this thing I forgot.
As a child/former employee of a small business owner though, regarding not having what you want or not having it in stock, any business owner worth their salt should be trying to solve those problems for you. I'll use an example from a hardware store since that's what my dad owned; if you need a new leaf blower, he doesn't carry those all year round (not in stock) due to space limitations. But he can order it for you, probably even the same one that you found online. The tradeoff is it'll arrive next week and you'll most likely have to come pick it up in store. But from his perspective that's 1) a guaranteed sale to a 2) satisfied customer. That's HUGE! And all because you were willing to not have it delivered to your doorstep tomorrow! In our "everything at the touch of a button always" this can seem like an enormous inconvenience, but it keeps small businesses alive if they have customers who are willing to adopt this mindset AND see the value in their continued existence.
yeah but exactly the problem is that the small businesses don't always step up like that. case in point, a few weeks ago I wanted to buy a guitar from a local place instead of a big chain. went to a local place that had the specific guitar on their website, but their website was wrong and it wasn't in stock. the guy said he'd call to find out when they would get it in and call me. But he never called me.
In this case I did find a similar guitar at another local shop, but if I had wanted to stick with my first choice, I don't think anyone could blame me for going to the chain or Amazon at that point. And this is not an uncommon sort of experience for me. I really do try to support local businesses but sometimes local businesses make it hard.
Yep, I have experienced that as well, and that's a customer service issue that the business owner can't blame on high rents or tax rates or Amazon.
I associate restaurants with youth. When you leave home, you know only mom's home cooking. How are you going to know what Chinese, Persian, Nepalese, Indian, Thai, Ethiopian, Ukrainian, or even Italian are if you don't have a restaurant to give you a big broad hint? I remember my family's first and only visit to a real Italian restaurant where I fell in love with Ricotta cheese. Mom's spaghetti didn't get anywhere near this. Then you learn you have to go to the country to get the full picture.
While cycling through France, I made it my goal to spend more on my major meal of the day than I did on my bed in a hostel. Unconsciousness is pretty much the same no matter how much you spend for it.
I'm planning to buy a camper van soon and hope I can drive to some really good cheap restaurants. I find the reviews in Tripadvisor the most helpful.
BTW, there was an old WDC joke current in the 90s that covered this phenomenon: “Every time there is a revolution in the third world two new ethnic restaurants open in Bethesda." Update by subbing “the Global South."
Lots of great comments here!
I think about this stuff ALL the time! I don't feel a duty, per se, but I do think about the fact that if we want places to keep existing, we do need to support them.
I have seen enough campaigns to “Support your local/small/independent business” to know that it’s not something we automatically do without a little nudge. The communitarian value of frequenting third places (to do more than work on your laptop) and the broader values of proximity and chrono-urbanism are more than sufficient reasons to promote and to be committed to supporting your local economy and helping to ensure that local entrepreneurs will continue to take the risk of opening a restaurant or a bookstore or other enterprises for which we have free or lower cost options.
Your wife is a very wise woman.
Yes!
This reminds me of reading about historic Catholic churches being closed due to the parishes being merged—and the ensuing outrage from locals, who often were no longer active parishioners. (They didn’t attend services, tithe, have their children baptized, etc.) I sympathize with them, but it’s hard not to point out what should be obvious: if no one is participating in and supporting the parish, then it is no longer needed, and perhaps should no longer exist—especially if there is no will or money to do that.
Also, while I do agree that local, small businesses should “earn” their customers’ patronage, in practice I do find myself willing to pay higher prices at the local bookstore, for instance, than I might by using Amazon. A big reason for this is because I can walk to the bookstore; I don’t know if I would feel the same way if I had to drive to the bookstore. I know it’s not quite the same as dining in a restaurant, but I do feel it’s related.
The related point I do think is valid is that if you like having local restaurants, shops, coffee shops, etc., then there have to be enough people around to support those businesses. More neighbors means more businesses and more choices for you!
We moved to our neighborhood because there were coffee shops, bars, and restaurants within a short walk from our house. It's /really/ easy for us to get to those places, even when its 100*, so we visit pretty frequently. It was the same when we lived in Manhattan, where there were dozens of businesses within minutes of our front door. These places are often on the way to other places we might be traveling on foot, so it's super convenient to pop in for a coffee or snack on the way. When there's a density of desirable things, duty isn't part of the equation. It's just easy.
There is no duty to spend, but there is a duty not to complain about the results of one's spending (or lack of it). I've seen too many times where a highly regarded locally owned restaurant has gone out of business despite endless praise. Often, it turns out that people like the idea of diverse, independent restaurants but don't make the effort to support them, especially at slow times. Instead, they default to the path of least resistance, whether that's a chain restaurant or meal kit delivery services. Then, they complain that their neighborhood is bereft of interesting places.
People who behave that way trouble me far more than people who enjoy cooking at home, something I like to do myself. In my experience, people who enjoy cooking and do it well are often the most appreciative of good restaurants. Even the best home cooks get tired of their own style and welcome a break. I wouldn't worry about their economic impact. Even when they're cooking at home and not going to restaurants, they're more likely to support independent food purveyors and local farmers markets, which are just as important to a vibrant urban economy as good restaurants.
I don't feel a duty to support my local restaurants and bars but I will say that when choosing to spend my food dollars at restaurants rather than cooking myself, I'm more likely to choose one of my neighborhood, independent businesses.
I see these restaurants as an extension of my home, run by people who invested in my neighborhood. And in some cases there are rituals associated with them -- for example, the local brewery is where we always go after our twice-monthly community bike rides.
We’ve recently moved to a tiny town but it was well researched moved, anticipating retirement.
I did a trial contract gig first and made sure of all the basics; pharmacy, hardware store, good grocery store, hospital, post office, library, transit, gym with indoor pool, some restaurants, schools etc.
The pharmacy will order anything I want- yeah it’s cheaper on Amazon.
I WANT to keep a pharmacy in town.
Next town over is 56 miles and requires a drive around a picturesque lake with a curved road which is sometimes icy..
There’s a notorious DC-area instagram page which is known for, let’s call it “spirited debate” in the comments section. Whenever they ask for people to shout out their favorite bar or restaurant in the city, one of the top comments is without fail some variation of “my house/my kitchen”. This is partially a response to people’s frustration with the cost of eating/drinking out. But there’s also a strain of miserly, misanthropic, stay-at-home attitude I feel is reflected here. Like really, there’s not *one* neighborhood mom and pop restaurant or dive which you feel like doesn’t get enough love?
I don’t think anyone necessarily has a moral obligation to spend their money on anything. But it’s undeniable that even eating at home is fraught with issues of localism. A lot of grocery stores are plugged into national rather than local food networks. It’s undeniably the case that most of the money you spend at your “local” Whole Foods or Costco is leaving your community.
Interesting piece and fully agree on the tension of loving local businesses while also not going out of my way to spend more than I need to.
My overall impression of businesses in the DMV area is that they are way too large, in the sense of literal square footage. This raises the costs of maintaining, say, a local restaurant and incentivizes businesses to appeal to as wide of demographic as possible. I wonder if we allowed much smaller businesses (across the spectrum from food stalls to 500sq ft restaurants, we would allow more niche businesses to develop, and lower costs in a way that give these local businesses staying power.
Response on food stalls and other micro-businesses like food carts and trucks. Incumbent bricks and mortar businesses in some cities push for strict regulations on micro-businesses that make it hard to operate. For example, a food cart may not be allowed within XXX feet of an existing food business. In developing countries, the opposite is true: at street corners, there are carts and vendors selling snacks, maps and newspapers.
A local smoothie shop owner who operated just steps away from a local coffee shop didn’t worry too much about competition from her neighbor. She had already experienced owning a coffee shop in Hawaii when Starbucks first came to town, and instead of driving the locals out of business it just created a culture of consumers who developed the habit of buying coffee every day - from both the chains and the locals. Her business thrived. Restaurants who try to regulate competition might be hurting themselves more by missing out on an expanded customer base of people who have so many good local dining options that they go out to eat when they don’t feel like cooking.