Local Maximum

Thoughts on the Future of Opportunity and Equity in Beacon, New York

Ride the Tide

In some alternate universe, Beacon's Main Street is lined with shops owned and operated by locals, for locals - places for us to buy the regular things that we need and other, more specialized places that reflect our shared interests and hobbies. In this universe, we got novelty shops and luxury services that cater primarily to toursists. This city has a lot going for it, and the New York Times can't stop writing flattering puff pieces about it, so here we are.

I suspect that there's not much we can do about the current state of things on Main Street. The cat's out of the bag. What we can do is figure out a way to leverage the current state of things to the direct financial benefit of our community, namely by locally producing more of the goods that are sold by these shops.

I propose that, as part of a larger local manufacturing effort, we start making products specifically targeted at the clientele of the shops that we have.

  1. soap
  2. oat milk
  3. baked goods
  4. dummy light statues
  5. granola
  6. kombucha