A view from the outside

There's a quick article in the Atlantic Monthly about where I now live and the downtown.

One store that was terrific (full of neat, funky household stuff) closed just before I moved because the owner retired. I was so bummed by that loss. I go to Tattersal's, mentioned in the article. Their problem is TJMaxx and WalMart right across the street.

Since my church is in the downtown consortium, I go to various meetings... as the only non-store owner. The article writer reinforces what outsiders say about Rutland: it's a quaint city. The problem is that for a Vermont place, it suffers from low self-esteem because its image does not echo the touristic one: there are no cows, barns except for those painted on the Ben and Jerry's ice cream store up on Rte 7. And sadly there is a fair bit of crime. So Rutland is kind of down on itself.

In any event, check out the article.