Recently I moved to a small town in upstate New York. I'm chagrined to note that acclaimed author Richard Russo (Empire Falls, Mohawk, Nobody's Fool) has already taken all the good pseudo-names for this part of the world, so I will protect my new neighbors' anonymity as best I can, by calling this town Moderate Falls. So far, it is a pleasant place to live, with attractive scenery, a smattering of shops, and friendly townspeople. But it is not without its dramas and flaws...and colorful characters...My current favorite is the Hot Dog Guy.
Before I tell you about the Hot Dog Guy, I must start by setting the scene. In Moderate Falls, we have a Main Street a few blocks long (he has a mobile cart and tries to stay in the shade). During the urban-renewal frenzy that swept the state and indeed many parts of the nation in the 60s, one side of this street was razed for "improvements." Those improvements, now getting on in years, include a sprawling one-story "mall" anchored by a moderate-size grocery store, attended by various smaller businesses, and a few vacancies and, predictably, surrounded by a sea of bland parking lot. Clearly nothing has been done to upgrade this substantial piece of our downtown in many a long year, and it looks both dated and cruddy, frankly. Across the street and up and down the way we have a moderately attractive, classic Main Street, with unassuming storefronts fronted by a sidewalk under a sheltering roof supported by columns—a classic small-town look. Some fresh paint on these once-handsome columns and older wooden buildings and their trim, some Windex applied with what my grandma called "elbow grease" on the streetside windows, perhaps even some colorful awnings or inviting on-street seating...would be, I think, doable and nice. We don't aspire to be gentrified, upscale Saratoga Springs, but the potential is here for Prettier, More Prosperous Falls.
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Seth Gitner, left, assistant professor at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, and Newhouse student Nathan Mattise, of Scranton, Pa., worked on an online multi-media project to tell the story of Syracuse-area diners. They are shown at JJ's Miss Syracuse Diner in downtown Syracuse.
A few posts ago I shared with you the out-of-the-way destination "The Clam Box" and offered the hint that any business that can thrive this far off the beaten path must be worth the trip. Well, if that along-the-rural-highway ice cream and fried-food stand is out of the way, Jim's Flyin' Diner makes it look like a rest stop on the Mass Pike.
