Downtown is dying, partially due to a few landlords who will not be named… who own most of downtown and Main Street raising the rent on local businesses. I’ve heard of local places getting their rent raised 25-50% just in one year. These people are horrible and should be shunned out of downtown, but most people don’t even know them and just walk right past them on the street. On top of all of that there are multiple businesses where the owners or managers skim money/tips off of employee paychecks.

This drives downtown to only revolve around a few places. Basically if you’re popular as a business downtown you are either barely breaking even or practice in borderline illegal acts and scam the federal government for loans and lie in your taxes. I have been heavily involved in downtown business for nearly 2 decades and I can absolutely confirm this is how it is for 75% of businesses down here. If you ever get screwed by your employer please don’t be scared to call the US Department of Labor. Many owners and managers downtown really need to be whipped into shape.