Massachusetts towns and formula retail...

Wellesley officials fear that the new Dunkin’ Donuts shop will damage the character of the town center. (Dina Rudick/ Boston Globe Staff)

Reading some back issues of the Boston Globe and found "In Wellesley, character counts: But town loses bid to bar new Dunkin' Donuts shop" and somewhere I saw a mention of Nantucket passing a restriction on formula retail. This article, "Chain Stores Declared A No-No In Nantucket," covers the issue well enough.

From the Wellesley article:

The aesthetically minded town -- home to the author of ''America the Beautiful" and, according to its website, the nation's first zoning laws -- is in an uproar over a new Dunkin' Donuts shop that has opened blocks from town center... The stakes are considered high. The franchise, in the words of one town official, is ''a barnacle on the face of progress."

In both instances, they understand that quality in the built environment and independent retail are key elements of community livability and character.

The Globe also had a short mention of the book A Handful of Dust: Photographs of Disappearing America, by David Plowden, which features photos of 77 abandoned buildings, businesses, and landscapes. From the publisher's webpage:

The America of these photographs is a bittersweet reminder of things once cherished and a life no longer possible. Deserted Main Streets and crumbling facades stare at us blindly. Abandoned houses and buildings reach back to ground. Plowden's work is a sad symphony— incomparably and irresistibly beautiful, while reminding us of our loss.

Main Street, Forest, OH, 2003. © David Plowden.

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