The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The year was 1975/1976 when crafty real estate developers came to the town of North Haven in the hopes of building the world's largest mall. You all remember that right? It was faught so hard by the town with it's then leaders stating:

"We don't want to destroy the Old New England esthetic and charm that this town has and always had"

But still, the developers tried and still they got denied. And so as the years passed, they tried less and less and eventually wrote off the town. But, as we all know, it didn't end there, oh no, not by a long shot, because before you knew it, the town granted approval. Not for the mall, but for ugly dehumanizing strip malls, a big box store, a Price Club, and a Showcase Cinema plopped on a crumbling, destroyed parking lot. And as the crumbling lot stayed the same over these last twenty or so years, much has changed on the disgusting pit that is now called Universal Drive. Well, it always was Universal Drive, but now everywhere you look, more Big Box stores, more cell phone stores, more trashy discount store. . . yes. . .and they didn't want to ruin the Old New England charm.

I recall the wonderful days of my youth, growing up on Larson Drive, I would deliever the New Haven Journal Courior to the residents on George Street, Mathew Lane and Lincoln Street. Then when done, i would walk down to Washington Avenue, cross the street and head to small store, or the Cumberland Farms. If I had some extra cash, I'd walk to the arcade at the corner of Washington and Blakeslee.  But those streets and those shops have all seen better times as now, in my 40th decade I watch as stores come and go, new businesses arrive, all smiles and cutting tape with giant scissors, but like a Kardasian marriage or MC Hammers fortunes, they were gone in the blink of an eye.  So what is the problem then? Is it the economy? Is it just a sign of the times?

A quick jaunt up Washington Avenue, just past the Fairgrounds reveal that this area would be a great place for tumbleweeds and graffiti artists. Many businesses, some in town for decades left for greener pastures and better tax deals while leaving their disgusting rotting hulks of steel, glass and metal to remain, with just a real estate sign eagerly awaiting a new tenent. But those new tenents never come and the building still sit.  We could say that this scene is being repeated in small towns and cities all across the northeast, but, as North Haven has always loved to point out, they're not like other small towns.  Once a glorious tax base kept those in charge happy and smiling.

"Who cares if Huttons goes out of business, who cares if Stop & Shop pulls out their corporate offices, we still have. . . . ."   and fill in the blank my friends, because there really isn't much left.  The town of North Haven has been unable to adapt. You can have a classic New England town and still look to the future, but the town couldn't see that, and through it's own shortsightedness, North Haven is now nothing more than a horrific display of fast food, cheap dollar stores and a great place to shoplift.  So where did the town go?  Where did everyone go?  Even the promise of indoor mini golf has given way to yet another empty storefront.  This is not the North Haven I grew up in and worked for. This is not the North Haven that people want to move to. The town is now simply an exit or two off the interstate, a place to get a burger, some gas, some cheap sunglasses and back on to a real city or a progressive thinking town.

In future weeks I hope to shed some light on this great town that once was. I don't plan to place blame on any one individual, though that would be so easy. I hope to show where the town has been and where it hopes to be. Sure, life was different in 1979 and 1980, perhaps simpler even, but somewhere the town got lost. . .and i hope to bring it back