Funkytown

Just tooling around that funky little town of Frederick, MD.  Aside from the fact that they cannot move on from the civil war and are lousy with sites/memorabilia, I have noticed some oddities that do not exist back home. Firstly, It has numerous off-street shops that seem to thrive, despite the presence of outlets and super stores and that not a whole lot of folks are goin' in 'em.  I saw an alteration store that had gone out of business in one place and re-opened up a few doors down across the street.  This is a stark contrast to Charleston, which aside from Capital ST. is lousy with empty buildings.  Also the place is clean. I mean, even the bums are clean.  They all have bikes and just park them on by a bench and catch a few Zzzs. Anyway, it seems like a groovy place to live, you can walk to anything, and even live above or near your business and survive.  I am perplexed as to how they have gotten this right and so many other places have not. See Cumberland, MD