To the editor:

On Aug. 10, 2005, an article was headlined “Downtown’s every-evolving landscape a sign of vitality.” I remember shuddering as I read it. A more apt headline would have been the one on Leonard Pitt’s column Monday, “Missing the Mom and Pops.”

As big chains like Ben & Jerry’s, Chico’s, The Gap, etc., move in, the small mom and pops are moving down and out. Even though these smallest-of-the-small businesses garner hundreds of thousands of tax dollars, even though they give like amounts to local charities, schools and community projects, even though they employ thousands of people, they aren’t given fancy tax abatements or hardly even a thank you from people like City Commissioner David Schauner who flippantly comments, “businesses that have a tough time anyway … are just going to go away.”

Ironically, Schauner is precisely right. The same businesses that created the ambiance that Lawrence enjoys today are slowly going away. The pressure to compete price-wise, the ridiculous rent/property tax costs are driving the mom and pops out of town and out of sight.

Mr. Dettbarn’s comment in the same article states that “turnover … was higher than normal, but not enough to cause worry” smacks of the obvious blase attitude that seems prevalent here in Lawrence. Wake up and smell the Starbucks, Lawrence! Or should we just rename Massachusetts Street “Oak Mass Mall”?