Our downtown is like a pretty girl. Missing a few teeth.

Tuesday, March 1

There's an old saying.  Usually said by dentists.  You don't have to floss all of your teeth.  Just the ones you want to keep.

I thought about that as I left to go to the dentist.  Because I had religiously flossed every single day since my last visit six months ago.  And I wanted a clean bill of health.  And clean teeth, too.

Go ahead, click to enlarge and get his contact info.

I'm going to tell you something.  I have been going to the same dentist for twenty-six years.  Time flies when they're jabbing pointy sticks in your gums!  Twenty-six years.  And I'm not about to give that up - Lansdale Shopping Challenge or no Lansdale Shopping Challenge.  Because my dentist is the best dentist there is.  But he's in Yardley, PA.

Yes, I go to Yardley, PA for my dental care.  Because Dr. Frank Prezioso is that good.  I used to live out there, and gave up just about everything Bucks County when I moved here.  Except my dentist.  Again - he's that good.

Shameless plug here - if you're looking for a good dentist and don't mind a drive, give Dr. Prezioso a call.

Me and Dr. P. after an A+ exam!

Lansdale has about 16,400 residents.  Meaning we have about 500,000 teeth in town.  A half million teeth!  That's a lot of teeth.  And there are some local dentists that I'm sure some of you like as much as I like Dr. Prezioso.  I know there's Blooming Smiles Dental on North Broad Street.  And Black & Bass Cosmetic and Family Dentistry, also on North Broad.  Rocco & Buffett Family Dentistry is on East Main Street.  I'm sure there are other family dentists in the borough, too.

But the bottom line is - go to the dentist!  Every six months.  Because a good smile will take you places.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  Zero (But I could have)

But now we get to the part where I tell you why I'm talking about dentists.  Because our downtown business district is a lot like the smile on a pretty girl.  A pretty girl who is missing a few teeth.

Pretty as she may be, you can't help but focus on the missing teeth.  And all of a sudden, she just a little less pretty.  Because of the missing teeth.

What are our town's missing teeth?  Its empty storefronts. Places that have closed or gone out of business.  Those vacant stores can suck the life out of a business district.

Now it sure would be nice to have all of our storefronts filled.  But even in the most robust town, there are some empty stores.

We need to start a program to help building owners - some of them are absentee owners - spruce up those empty stores to make both the store look more attractive to the next tenant, and to make our downtown look more inviting.

An empty storefront on Main Street

So - what do you think?  Should we have a program through a local non-profit or the borough, or some sort of partnership between both, to work with property owners to spruce up empty stores?

Think of it as dental care for the smile of our borough.


Now, We did spend money.  Well, we really didn't.  We were treated by my sister and brother-in-law to a wonderful dinner at The Oasis on West Main Street.  The Swiss folk were about to go back to the land of alps, chocolate and cheese.  But I wanted to show them a great Lansdale restaurant first.  And they were not disappointed.

I also found out that people are really reading this.  Because I talked about the stuffed kibbe that I had on my last visit.  And the next weekend, they had so many orders for stuffed kibbe!  I hope you all liked it as much as I did.

This time I had the spinach lasagna.  And it was the best spinach lasagna I have ever had.  Really.  At the Oasis.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  1

So the recap:

ONE opportunity to shop/eat in Lansdale met.

ONE need met outside the borough when I could have stayed here.

Let’s see what today brings!