Diversity

Blue Island certainly is a diverse community. Not only in the ways have we commonly thought of diversity either. Most of us think of Blue Island as Black, White, and Hispanic, but we go far beyond that. Chinese, Arabic, Egyptian, the list goes on and on. I met a woman from East Africa in traditional African clothing one day while walking to work. A woman originally from Mongolia stopped in the store.
The diversity of religion is evident, too. Catholics, Methodists, Lutherans, Baptists, Evangelicals are everywhere. A Muslim man was spotted on a prayer rug early one morning. I’m sure that there are atheists here, too. It’s hard to tell because they don’t have churches or public displays of non-worship, but I’m sure they’re here.
We embrace all of this; at least most of us do. What worries me is our lack of shopping diversity (you had to know that this was coming). I first noticed this years ago when I had what I refer to know as a “real job”. I had purchased a summer top from Kohl’s and wore it to work the very next day. Within a week, I realized that two other women had the same top, but in different colors. Now, I have never been one to panic if I was seen in the same outfit as someone else, but this was the beginning of my awareness of bigboxitis.
Bigboxitis is a disease which compels us to run to the nearest big box store whenever we detect a need in our lives. We become unresponsive to mistreatment and lack of service. It makes us slaves to price and convenience instead of value. As for the summer tops, within a month they were all misshapen blobs of faded fabric.
The monetary price we pay for bigboxitis seems small, and that is why it is so addictive. The personal price is far greater. Despite the fact that these places appear to be time saving and convenient, how many of us feel more time deprived than ever? Do you feel more connected to the community or less connected than you did five years ago? Shopping in town increases the chance that we will see a neighbor. Knowing the business owners makes us feel connected. Stopping to chat makes us feel that we know what’s going on in the community. Spending our money here supports the entire community, not just the business owners. It brings in jobs and tax revenue.
We are born with our ethnicity. It cannot be changed. We are born into our religions, we can change that if we choose. But, regardless of our innate diversity, we should patronize independent businesses or soon we will all be dressed in the Croft & Barrow uniform of sameness.
Just as in other aspects of our lives, we have a diverse group of programs we can subscribe to in supporting local business. You can go with my $5.00 a day plan, you can check out the 3/50 Project, you can pledge to 10PercentShift.org. They are all good ideas, and any of them, together or separately, will make a big difference to Blue Island.

Candace Carr
CARR home-garden-holiday

P.S. As far as I’m concerned, Hellman’s is the only “real” mayonnaise. Now that the Jewel is closed, you can find it at Family Dollar Stores, 2418 Vermont Street.

Invest in Blue Island!

It was a curious thing that happened. A woman came in and said, “I’ve got to start shopping Blue Island, and I’m starting here!” We talked for quite a while, and I asked if she lived here. “Oh no, I live in Oak Lawn, but I can see that more and more businesses are gone, and I would hate to see the entire business district close up.”
She told me that she and her husband have a business in Blue Island, and also own a few apartment buildings here. Supporting the businesses in Blue Island was a way to protect their investments. A city with an empty business district would surely see a drop in its property values. Who wants to live in a city with a shuttered and boarded up main street?
This leads me to wonder about the home-owners in this city. Are they concerned about the impact that the business district has on their property values? Do they realize that for every dollar they spend outside Blue Island the value of their home is decreased ever so slightly?
I don’t know how the math works on this, but let’s just say for the sake of argument that for every $100.00 you spend outside Blue Island, the value of your home is diminished by $1.00. In the not-too-distant past, this would not have been a big deal. Home prices were rising so rapidly, that it made little difference. As we know, things are very different now. I wonder if my house is worth what we paid for it 30 years ago. So now it becomes a big deal.
Every time you leave Blue Island to buy a greeting card, groceries, gas, clothing, tools, you name it, you are lowering the value of your property. I know that many things are not available here, but many things are available within the city limits. It’s time, as home-owners and residents, that we recognize the value-added proposition of a vibrant downtown. The more we shop on Western Avenue, the more successful the businesses become. The more successful the businesses become, the more new business is drawn to the area.
It is an idea so simple. Invest in your own property, invest in Blue Island, by doing as much shopping here as you are able to. The businesses that we are lacking will follow. Pick a business and spend your $5.00 today!

Candace Carr
CARR home-garden-holiday