Big and Small

Curbed ran an interesting article a while back discussing how cities – and particularly big, growing, and thriving cities – can help protect their small businesses. We tend to think of big cities as the home of corporate headquarters and other large businesses, but a lot of the character of a city or a neighborhood is defined by small and smallish businesses. Nearly every company in our old home at 111 Broadway and our new one at 90 Broad Street qualifies as a small business, as do the delis and pizzerias where we eat lunch, the hardware store where we had our keys made, and the movers we’re relying on.

Older buildings tend to be more architectural congenial to small businesses, as they have smaller and more diverse spaces; they are often also less expensive than new buildings. Our work brings us into a lot of small stores and offices, along with older homes. However, as the article points, saving old buildings can just as easily be a part of gentrification as it can be of neighborhood preservation. That distinction is largely beyond our scope to influence, although we do our best by providing services as inexpensively as we can to non-profit and poor clients.