Calling all Downtown and near-Downtown Albuquerque residents: Are you an advocate for living in or near Downtown? I am! I value the accessibility and walkability to our anchor of cultural resources such as Old Town, museums, the zoo, the Botanic Garden, the Aquarium, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, the KiMo and Albuquerque Little Theatre. Equally important to my quality of life are the natural resources—the public parks, the minutes-away bike paths, the Bosque and the river. Not to mention incredibly easy post office and airport access. Living Downtown is like having my cake and eating it, too. I have everything I need just around the corner—my auto repair shop, dry cleaner, shoe repairman, hairdresser, bookstore, community arts center, local drug store, restaurants offering every price range and variety I could desire, a multiplex cinema, loads of live music options and art galleries, and convenient public transportation. It’s all there for me to enjoy—as long as I use it! Everyone knows “if you build it, they will come.” But the opposite is also true. Use it, or lose it! I was enjoying a great meal in one of our newest Downtown eateries the other day and listened as the owner expressed doubt about his business being able to survive the winter due to lack of patronage. Please, neighbors, it is vitally important to support with our wallets and consumer choices our local Downtown merchants. If vitality of your Downtown is important to your quality of life, let the businesses know you value them. Let your presence and patronage be their presents this holiday season, and beyond!
Letters: Shop Local Shop Local
I would like to thank Gov. Susana Martinez for encouraging New Mexicans to shop at small businesses (as reported in the press recently). I am not a Republican or a Martinez supporter. However, I appreciate her gesture because small business is so important to our economic recovery. Unfortunately, many of my neighbors and friends are of the mindset that they must do all their shopping at the world’s largest retail chain. It is a familiar habit. But habits can be broken for the good of New Mexico and America.Small businesses provide 56 percent of all private sector jobs in New Mexico, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. Also, 96 percent of our state’s employers are small businesses. These people need our moral support and our dollars to improve the local economy. I was appalled to read in Time magazine’s Dec. 5 issue that more than one-third of the business done by big American companies in now done in other countries like China. This seems very unpatriotic. Does this mean one-third of us folks in New Mexico need to move to China to obtain jobs and business opportunities? China also is the No. 1 choice for new investment by America’s largest firms, according to Time magazine. It feels as if big business in the USA has turned its back on its own people.That’s why I urge my neighbors to put some effort into locating and patronizing local businesses. “One-stop shopping” is not helping us out of the recession.
Letters: A Letter From Mr. Logic A Letter From Mr. Logic
[Re: Feature, “Talk Jock Signs Off,” Dec. 8-14] I’ll give the morning show one year. It’s not because the others aren’t talented. It’s just what business wants. Just like the Alibi . Continuously printing letters from The Don and ¡Ask a Mexican! is just as stupid. What happened to Ask Kat? That’s why the Alibi is free; you can only give it away.
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