Vacancy, U.S.A.

Occasionally, I drive through parts of the Twin Cities that were former haunts of mine. Usually, I am surprised, and a little disappointed, at the changes that have occured since my last visit. Disappointed because what I see doesn't reflect my memories, and surprised that so much growth has taken place in what seems like the blink of an eye.

I drove around the area northwest of the 494/100 exchange. Long ago, I had my graphic design studio in that section, and watched the area grow in spectacular fashion. I also worked in two other buildings on 76th Street, and later had a client, Burgess Publishing, in the far north reaches of that quadrant, did contract work for several years for Delta Dental to the west, and did some work for Carlson Companies nearby.

In the 70's, and later, that quadrant was a hub of a large number of computer-related companies and many other technical and scientific firms. It was such a dynamic place that traffic in and out of it was always difficult.

In the past, Saturday afternoon in that quadrant was as busy as a weekday, with young professionals employed by dynamic companies all scrambling to produce innovative solutions in a market that gave handsome rewards to those who could ride the cutting edge of each technical specialty. In the 30 years since then, my visits had seen mostly cosmetic changes. A bank I watched being built on a vacant lot had turned into more small office space. A new corporate name would be seen once in a while, replacing another I recalled but couldn't name. After the building boom in the 70's filled that area, few structures changed... only the names associated with them.

What I saw today was distressing. Almost all of the buildings I remember are still there; what is missing is people. I drove around that section virtually alone... no traffic at all. The parking lots around buildings were equally vacant. The area not only didn't look dynamic... it looked dead.

Almost every building has a prominent For Lease sign in front. It's not unusual for a building to have vacancies, but I got the unnerving feeling that these buildings have serious vacancies. The area east of there, along the 494 frontage road, looks even worse... vacant lots where buildings once stood, a huge and apparently empty office building, and three major stores empty in the mall near 100. I knew that Circuit City had closed, but so did CompUSA and another large store, leaving half of that big-store mall vacant. A large store, with a great glass facade and plentiful parking in front, now dark with only the outlines of the old sign on the front, is a spooky sight, almost like visiting old ruins. In the past, as now, businesses failed, but they were usually promptly replaced by another, eager for good retail space.

I ended my tour by stopping at the Galleria, as I often do. I enjoy going there because, unlike so many other retail spaces today, it is prosperous. I usually buy a magazine at Barnes and Noble and have a leisurely latte at Starbucks. As used to be true everywhere, Galleria is busy, and ever-changing. Even though I seldom buy anything else, just walking through a prosperous mall is encouraging.

I'm worried about what I saw today. It's the visible reality of an economy that has been squeezed by terrible governmental economic policies. As I walked through the book store, I caught a glance of a book about the man most responsible for those insane economic ideas... John Maynard Keynes. His suggestion that government should borrow and spend when it's broke, and intervene in all aspects of the economy has been eagerly picked up by those politicians trying to build a legacy of powerful action... from Franklin Roosevelt right up until Barack Obama. The policies have never worked and never can, but they do allow politicians to be seen as taking spectacular action, while hiding the fact that huge debts are always passed on to future generations.

Just once in my lifetime, I would like to witness a politician, challenged by some reporter with "what do you plan to do about that problem", and hear the politician answer "Nothing... it's not the government's job, and the market will fix itself". Until I start to hear such answers, I fully expect to take more driving tours and watch as our nation continues to stagnate and decay.