What puts a town or a portion thereof out of business? That's something we need to take a close look at and determine what to do to prevent it from happening here in Framingham.
I used to think real estate values always went up due to increasing population and limited land available for development. Not so. Gutted out buildings and littered vacant lots of land in some of the Boston suburbs are evidence to the contrary. It wasn't just a temporary market downturn. Obviously nobody wanted to live there or invest in business or property in those areas. Why not?
One can hardly miss the present proliferation of FOR RENT, FOR LEASE and FOR SALE signs, especially in the downtown Framingham area. Why are so many businesses closing up shop and why are so many potential purchasers of local goods packing up and leaving? Is this just temporary or is it a trend? Making oneself "legal" these days has suddenly become very difficult as towns and countries all over Europe and the United States are trying to limit immigration.
Also, granted we have an excessive number of non-taxpaying institutions but can a helpful remedy be found without resorting to name calling and further depressing a needy population? Can hundreds of thousands of further local taxpayer dollars be made available for legal and court fees to try to basically uphold our non-existent right to discriminate? Is that likely to succeed? Clearly, something should be worked out with SMOC short of what would likely be a losing legal battle for both parties.
Downtown Framingham is never going to become a wealthy suburb like Wellesley, Wayland or Sudbury. Let's stop kidding ourselves. Our best bet is to help as many people as we can, especially the needy. Surely rather than driving businesses and taxpayers out, concentration on creating a friendly and prosperous town for all should be our goal.
Jack Rivers is a resident of Framingham.
