I spent a lot of my younger days in the Amherst area - as a student, as a worker, as a loiterer. I first visited the area when my father was working on the construction of the Southwest dorms at UMass in the early 1960s. I'd ride to town with him and, while he was at work, I'd hang around campus. I took a couple of summer courses between my junior and senior years in high school. One of the courses was taught by William Julius Wilson.
The story of my life from that time until I graduated from Amherst College late in the next decade is one best delivered in small slices. More slices later.
A few things that I noticed when I came into town this time:
But, the Courtyard is just one of the latest in the commercial takeover of our land and psyches by big chains. It's easier to go to the Whole Foods store on Route 9 than drive five miles to the south to shop at the locally-owned Atkins Farm. Dave's Soda and Pet Food City, one of my favorite places, is a small, regional chain, but it sits in a strip mall that starts with Wal-Mart and ends with Michael's. It's what I call Route-9-ization. Pretty much the length of Massachusetts state route 9, you've got strip malls, mostly filled with the same chains that you saw 20 miles ago. There are still some undeveloped stretches - between Worcester and Belchertown and west of Northampton, but those sections will likely go under in our lifetimes.
The story of my life from that time until I graduated from Amherst College late in the next decade is one best delivered in small slices. More slices later.
A few things that I noticed when I came into town this time:
- There are lots more people of color. That shouldn't be surprising, but I've been staying close to home for the past year and have seen mostly white folks.
- There are more people smoking, younger people mostly.
- There are fewer people talking on their cell phones while driving. Kids are talking and sending text messages while walking or sitting in coffee shops, but the soccer parents are just driving.
But, the Courtyard is just one of the latest in the commercial takeover of our land and psyches by big chains. It's easier to go to the Whole Foods store on Route 9 than drive five miles to the south to shop at the locally-owned Atkins Farm. Dave's Soda and Pet Food City, one of my favorite places, is a small, regional chain, but it sits in a strip mall that starts with Wal-Mart and ends with Michael's. It's what I call Route-9-ization. Pretty much the length of Massachusetts state route 9, you've got strip malls, mostly filled with the same chains that you saw 20 miles ago. There are still some undeveloped stretches - between Worcester and Belchertown and west of Northampton, but those sections will likely go under in our lifetimes.
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