Sometimes the best thing a good blog can do is to refer our readers to a well-written story in another medium that lays out a unique perspective on some aspect of Ohio preservation and preservation-based revitalization.

With that in mind, we recommend to you the series in today’s Columbus Dispatch for your reading -- entitled “Main Street Holidays.”  In it, Dispatch writers profile visits to four Central Ohio downtown areas -- Columbus, Westerville, Grove City and Delaware, where they spoke to merchants experiencing the effects of recession at the worst possible time.  The Christmas season typically accounts for at least 20% of a retailer’s annual sales, and for small-town merchants, that percentage is often much higher.  These vignettes suggest that while the struggle is real, that there is nevertheless still optimism in many corners of Main Street Ohio.

Photo: Bun's Restaurant, Downtown Delaware - OZinOH/Creative Commons License