vampirate

As you walk eastward on Main Street, approaching the intersection with Corcoran, on the north side of the street you can see the building that used to house the sadly failed D.A.I. It still says "Mr. Shoe" on the front; Dave was never even in there long enough to change the sign. On the side of the building behind Mr. Shoe, the one facing Parrish Street, is a mural. It's apparently the Durham skyline (I'm guessing; the tall building in the middle looks like it's probably the SunTrust building) with a banner underneath it reading "Where is the love?" I'm pretty sure the question is meant to be rhetorical, but sitting behind the empty ex-gallery, next to what is supposed to be a park but looks more like a derelict lot, and especially while I'm on my way to my work, it's a pretty poignant question.

Everything in this town is Not Long For This World. Downtown is full of Ligget-Meyers buildings with the logos still on top that have housed various other businesses for twenty years. Everything here is where something else used to be in "the old this-or-that building." There's continual talk of plans to redevelop or regentrify downtown. We don't need plans. Clearly, plenty of people here have plans; that's why they throw down in old buildings with their new ideas.

We just need everyone else to put their money where their mouths are.