What’s a downtown property owner to do? “I can summarize it in two words. They’re fucked.”


I learned a lot from this piece: The hidden culprit driving America’s apocalypse of boarded-up storefronts. Not just about empty storefronts, but also why, the authors’ words, “over time, neighborhood streets lined with locally owned yoga studios and bike-repair shops gradually transition to streets full of Sephoras and Banana Republics.” (Or in Canada, A&Ws and Shoppers Drug Marts).