Tag: economy

A doomed mall?

The list is getting too long to follow, the changes having made only moderate difference, leaving us with a still-failing shopping center.

The South Brunswick Mall is losing another anchor store — Bob’s, which had become a favorite of mine.

Consider the history of closings: Channel, Rickel, Jamesway, Grand Union, Rumbleseats, Ground Round, Bloomingdale Discount Furniture, Pizza Hut, Macy’s — and these are just the major players. We’ve also witnessed a long and unfortunate list of smaller stores bite the dust, including The Little Professor Book Store (where I had worked occasionally while in grad school and when I started out as a reporter).

The closings are a reminder that population growth does not, in and of itself, guarantee business. In this case, the mall has been weighed down by a poor design (it can’t be seen from the highway, for instance, and has a dopey traffic circulation plan) and failed mix of merchants. The hope when Bob’s and Home Depot opened was that they’d bring the shoppers in; the reality is that they have not been the kinds of draws needed.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
The Cranbury Press Blog

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Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Pockets of need

This is a tough story. Not because it was difficult to report or write, but because it points out the flawed statistics we rely on to understand our economy.

Last week, the county conducted a homeless census designed to determine how homeless men, women and children there are in Middlesex County. The trouble is that the count is essentially voluntary, relying on the homeless to come forward and volunteer their status. While this catches many, it leaves those living in the shadows in the shadows while also purposely ignoring a whole category of transients who technically have roofs over their heads.

(A)ccording to Amanda Warga, who works for the Middlesex County homeless Help Line, people living in welfare motels do not count as homeless because they have shelter.

“Although they are homeless in regular language, they can get hotel placement for two months and not be considered homeless,” Ms. Warga said. “Sometimes the hotels are so far out that they can’t find work anywhere and they aren’t counted as homeless. They should be, but they’re not.”

I’d have to agree. Not counting them distorts the true picture of homelessness and what is sometimes called housing insecurity. They have shelter — but only for the moment and it is dependent on forces they cannot control. When the winds change, they often find themselves without shelter, perhaps under a bridge in New Brunswick or living in a tree house on Beekman Road.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.