Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.11.2019, Blaðsíða 40

L IF E , T R AV EL & EN T ER TA INMEN T IN ICEL A ND
Issue 20 ! 2019
Nov 8th—Dec 5th
www.grapevine.is
LAST WORDS
101 Doom And Gloom
Words: Catharine Fulton
Photo: Art Bicnick
"Would you rather it be like a decade ago
when half the storefronts were empty and
run-down?"
Over the course of my decade living in
101, I've heard or read some iteration of
that rebuttal to any complaint made about
the lack of variety of shops and services on
Reykjavík's main drag, Laugavegur, count-
less times. The argument equates to say-
ing residents of 101 should be happy with
long stretches of shop windows filled with
stuffed puffins, factory-knit-in-China
"lopapeysa," and 3-for-2 T-shirts, because
the only alternative is a return to post-col-
lapse doom and gloom.
I was here then. It looked grim.
Laugavegur wasn't lined with recently ren-
ovated and re-built-to-still-look-historic
buildings. But, the less visually-appealing
buildings of 2008 and 2009 housed craft
stores, corner shops, fish mongers, and
more. Places for the residents of 101 to pur-
chase goods and services without leaving
the city centre.
Stroll down Laugavegur today and
roughly a third of the storefronts are va-
cant (they're just more aesthetically pleas-
ing, with windows shrouded by crisp brown
paper rather than surplus Grapevines). The
street LOOKS great, sure. But landlords are
so consumed with greed that the only busi-
nesses that can afford rent are those selling
cheap imported goods at a massive mark-up
to tourists, and restaurateurs charging ex-
orbitant prices for basic meals because they
care more about bleeding the most out of
tourists than building repeat patronage of
locals.
I'd like to see landlords who leave their
properties vacant rather than renting at
more sustainable prices heavily fined for
every week of vacancy. If nobody can afford
your rent, maybe you're the problem.
The Mi!bær Residents' Association is so
concerned about the state of the city centre
that they're hosting a town hall discussion
this month with local business owners,
landlords and residents to address the issue
of vacant storefronts and dearth of ameni-
ties for downtown dwellers.
Laugavegur may not have been pretty a
decade ago, but if it means being able to pur-
chase goods and services locally, then yes,
I'd rather a return to doom and gloom. It's
pretty damn gloomy for residents now any-
how.
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