Renew the lease for Half Price Books in Todos Santos Plaza, stop the homogenization of downtown. Citizens of Concord need the plaza to retain its longstanding family-oriented and historic gathering place - whose gem is Half Price Books.
Why is this important?
Todos Santos Plaza in Concord, CA has a rich history as a gathering place, event space, and city center. It isn't just about Concord though - as a world citizen I am tired of seeing unique areas of cities being swallowed up by corporations pushing out small and/or unique retailers that we want, homogenizing our shopping experiences to the extent that regardless of where you go - you get to have Chipotle, The Habit, and some wing chain.
My 18-year-old son has grown up with the Friday night tradition of walking to Todos Santos Plaza to visit friends at EJ Phair, walk over to Half Price to browse/shop for books/records/whatever - then head on home after picking up a burrito from Taqueria Los Dos Gallos. Why would we want to replace Half Price with a 5th bank location? Or another chain restaurant? Concord is proud of its heritage - but it is being ruined and replaced so that it is no longer unique or appealing at all. My son has always dreamed of taking over our house to remain in the area - but now even he is onboard with turning our home into a rental because the area is no longer charming - it's homogenized and completely uninspiring.
