When the last tour ship of the 2011 season sailed south, I walked down one side of South Franklin Street and up the other. I was interested in how many stores celebrated by closing and locking their doors. I got 69. I was surprised by that big number. I probably missed some; there may be more.
We all know the stores that remain open on Front Street (bless their hearts). And we all know the stores towards the north end of South Franklin Street that stay open. But did you know there are two really marvelous discoveries-to-be-made all the way down at the south end of Franklin Street? Go check it out. And afterward, get a great book and enjoy the views at our downtown library. Then cross the street for a cup of coffee and a heavenly sweet!
Jay Crondahl
Juneau
Comments (10)
Add commentWe need to find some way to reclaim the "tourist zone"
in the off-season. It's just not healthy for the community to have that large a section of the downtown area being a dead zone for most of the year.
Return it to the way it used to be!
How well I recall that previously romantic part of Juneau; seedy bars, flop houses, and drunks you had to step over. Now those rotten summer businesses generate a tax base that has caused a bunch of whiners to be able to afford to live in Juneau. It's a down-right shame...
Old Chinese Proverb: "When there is food on the table, family have many problems. When there is no food on the table, family have only one problem."
You haven't been to Juneau
You haven't been to Juneau much, have you donn?
Nobody said "return it to the way it USED to be", Donn
At least not in that sense.
All Jay was saying was explore some of what remains of the old structures. That's not going to bring the winos back.
And all I was saying was that we need to do something to keep that part of town alive in the winter. Would it be asking too much to let some of the shops be leased for local businesses of some sort DURING the winter?
It's not like we have to let the cruise shipheads have total control and treat South Franklin as if it's theirs instead of ours.
It still belongs to all of us, at some level.
I have to give Donn a partial
I have to give Donn a partial right on this one. The majority of people living in Juneau today don't know what it looked like in the 60s. In those days the "tourist zone" was some hardcore squalor.
I know that there are some folks in our fair city who have romantic memories of "the old days." However, I would like to throw out that many of the people around town who like to reminisce about that period weren't even living here then.
THAT explains it!
Donn left Juneau because his natural habitat was destroyed. Like a spotted owl or something. Good thing he rediscovered it up towards Wasilla-way.
Natural Habitat? For the record:
I left Juneau, reluctantly, because my wife said she had enough of that place. She got a great job in Anchorage and in December of that same year suffered a major medical event that has left her disabled. I don't know if she would have survived if we had been stuck in Juneau.
Now I live on the side of a south-facing mountain looking toward Anchorage and Cook Inlet, in the best house I've ever owned. I'm working in a job I love and helping people who have been unsuccessful in gaining a basic education. Most of all, my wife is happy, so I guess I have in fact found my "Natural Habitat."
Donn, I'm happy for you.
Donn,
I'm happy for you. There are lots of us here in Juneau who miss seeing your always smiling face even if we do disagree with you on a few issues.
Why stay open during the
Why stay open during the winter if you aren't making money? It must be good sense to close their doors during the winter, otherwise they would be open.
I wasn't saying the summer businesses should stay open in winter
But couldn't the leases the cruise ship people signed have included requirements that the spaces they are using on South Franklin for summer businesses be made available for community uses of various sorts during the winter(with a clean-up requirement for such use, of course, which could be enforced through deposit requirements)?
It's not as if that area HAS to be a dead zone from October until April.