I agree with this sentiment except us shopkeepers nowadays aren't particularly well off and we're driving 13 year old Hyundais, not BMWs. Retail's a much harder gig than it used to be.
I've become convinced that one of the biggest obstacles to better road design in commercial areas is well-off business owners who drive their BMW to work every day and find it impossible to imagine a customer who uses any other mode of conveyance to arrive at the shop.
Although there's plenty of independently wealthy shopkeepers or people with well paid spouses who open shops as a hobby but in my experience these aren't the reactionaries who show up at city council meetings screaming about bike lanes.
Most city residents don't realize how much of their city's budget comes from sales taxes and commercial property taxes. Our local economies depend on healthy & vibrant downtowns & commercial corridors.
All of which is under threat by exploitive mega tech companies like Amazon et al who don't pay city property taxes, freely violate local wage protections, and use bus zones and bike lanes as free parking. streets.mn/2023/10/09/a...
So I would argue that we need to offer a new urban vision that would help small business owners. We need to create safe, denser, walkable commercial districts that aren't dominated by cars. Narrower streets, car free plazas, places people will want to spend time.
We need leadership that can offer an alternative vision to small biz owners & can recreate our cities around transit & micro mobility. Who can focus on keeping sidewalks clear of snow and crosswalks painted at every intersection.
In short, we need to invest in placemaking, not parking. Pedestrians, not vehicle throughput. We know these strategies work & will help small shops. We just need the leadership & courage to overcome kneejerk reactionaries.
