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  2020-04-23

  Empty Streets

  Today is April 23rd 2020 My name is Dylan and I live in the small New England town of Marblehead, just 15 miles north of Boston. Marblehead is one of those small boutique towns that pride themselves on its rich history and position right on the ocean. However, due to COVID-19, Marblehead has effectively become barren and small businesses along our main road are closed until the foreseeable future. This road is usually busy and crowded with traffic, runners, dog walkers, street side parkers, and tourists. This has been the state of the town for weeks now and has been the cause of some small-town discussions online. The closing of businesses in town will be hard felt compared to many other towns and cities because Marblehead is against the establishment of chain stores (besides Dunks and Starbucks of course) and relies heavily on local businesses created by local Marbleheaders. This pandemic will be the cause of many financial issues in our town and as the U.S. remains closed, our town’s income from lobstering and tourism will likely be very limited. The town has also passed rules for those willing to shop, that we must wear face coverings to get our shopping done. And for walkers, walking around town has also been hampered by the closing of certain public locations, parks, and access to walkways connecting different parts of town. As for myself, I prefer to stay indoors for the time being due to our rather poor weather lately.