"Yes, there are still bright developments. The Beacon Theater will have an ice cream parlor and a wine bar opening soon, and some performances are scheduled for later in the summer. The Beacon Falls Roundhouse project is lurching along, and the hotel/restaurant building looks nearly ready to have windows put in.

But there is a curious stillness, that I feel even in New York City. A feeling of being in a limbo, waiting for time to catch up.

Economists are obviously spending too much time reading each others’ reports, and not enough time on Main Street, listening to the guys under the tree in front of the DMV, or talking to the owners at Max’s Bar and Deli."