The Ruins of Trenton

Once again I was driving through the eerie place that is downtown Trenton in the evening or at night. Not a soul about, just the occasional police cruiser patrolling the streets or sometimes a bum sitting, staring blankly into the misty night.

I went to the Trenton Public Library, thinking I might as well check out what the struggling system actually looks like.

It didn't look like a place that should struggle to keep someone at the helm.

It really wasn't bad. Several floors of books, relatively decent computers, and there were actually about 50 people in there only a half hour before closing...probably more people in there than were out in the downtown district at a pretty early time of night - 8:30 p.m.

There is a definite problem in a regional city when there are more people in the library that's about to close than there are in the downtown business district. Something is wrong! The administration and the City Council need to take steps to encourage downtown businesses staying open later!

Tax abatements, incentives, public relations campaigns...something has to be able to get people to come into the downtown area to spend their dollars at night. Perhaps the city could offer free transportation into the business district from the surrounding municipalities. If the businesses knew people were coming, they could be convinced to stay open a little later. The businesses on South Warren do this for Trenton2Night.