I’ve been thinking a lot about what needs to go into the new neighborhood — you know, the one in the Bermuda Triangle of burgeoning hipsterdom where the Salem Cinema has just lifted its curtain. I’ve had some down moments in Salem lately, days when I wondered how I was ever going to make a life here when we can’t even find a good restaurant open at 9:30 near downtown (apparently we’re turning Catalan).
So I’ve got a lot of hope for NoBro, or NoHo, or the Carpet District, or the Mission, or whatever you want to call it.
If you own property you know how important it is to have the “right” kind of neighbors. You want the lawn mowers, the flower planters, the doggie-do picker-upers, the silent meditators instead of the all-night rockers. Some might even go as far to say that in Salem, you don’t want the chicken-keepers. But above all you want that strange mix of characteristics that together form the “right” kind of people.
Yeah, I think that’s some pretty conservative, close-minded gibberish too.
But there’s some truth to it. Especially if you’re trying to launch a cultural movement to breathe life into a downtown neighborhood.
So I’m going to put this out there and hope that the links and the vibrations and the word gets out — if you are interested in opening an insanely sophisticated food shop in a setting that is a little industrial and raw around the edges, please consider bringing your craft product to Salem. Seriously, I should be sending invoices to the Chamber of Commerce.
And if you are Pix Patisserie (see pic above), consider yourself invited.
[...] here’s an idea: Maybe Salem doesn’t need a really great dessert place, or a few less existential signs, or the lawn police to get people to remove all the junk from the [...]