Changes Driving the Economy

*Our community* has grown from a town of less than 10,000 people back in the early 1970s to a major city of more than 75,000 people. *Our community* households in the 1970s had incomes derived primarily from the agricultural and manufacturing base of the Central Valley--the sugar plant, the Heinz ketchup plant, the dairies, the cheese factory, the cardboard box facility, and then also the small, independent, family-run merchants of our downtown community. And then there were the immigrant and local farm workers who worked on the large farming areas around the town.

Now, to accomodate that 75,000 and growing population, new businesses and infrastructures have popped up in town. A large mall. An "automall" with all the city's dealerships clustered around the shopping mall. A Walmart, a CostCo, many new restaurants and service businesses to cater to the now largely well-educated and well-paid population. Real estate is booming. Lawn-care, day-care, and housekeeping services are also booming.

There's a unique facet to *our community*. Most of the citizens who live here, do not work in town. In order to afford the "American Dream" of a nice house (which in *our community* there are a lot of them) and a nice car, they must commute either by ACE train and bus, BART, or car to the Bay Area--namely Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Livermore, Pleasanton, San Ramon, and other areas. Working in *our community* at a retail establishment or on the farm commits one to darn-near a minimum-wage job. (Unless, of course, you own the joint.)

So... being that most of the population gets on the road before sunrise and doesn't get back into town until long after sunset... doesn't give much chance for merchants in town to get any business from these folks during the week. Weekends are very busy at all the shopping areas of town. And if a merchant or other business does not capitalize on this weekend traffic, they are ignoring the bulk of the economic traffic for their business.