I have lived in Chapel Hill North Carolina for as long as I can remember. In that time period, I have fallen in love with Franklin Street, with its quiet benches, screaming Tar Heel fans and endless rows of boutiques.
My first memory of Franklin is sitting in the courtyard of the University Baptist Church, drinking hot chocolate with my babysitter.
Neither of us were baptist, or even religious in the slightest, but sitting on Franklin watching the Ackland Art Museum change its outdoor exhibitions every few months, grabbing lunch at Sutton’s Drugstore, and looking at the wall of stories that date back to 1985 became our religion.
That is not to say that good businesses do not close. The Bookshop of Chapel Hill closed in July after 31 years, ending what was an embodiment of all things that make Chapel Hill feel unique, with a mix of new and old crowding every shelf.
Yet its closure makes me wonder if that uniqueness is fading with every fast food restaurant that opens and every chain store that pops up on busy streets or formerly quiet neighborhoods.
With the development of Carolina Square, the construction of 249 apartments on the lot of what was previously University Square and the absence of the barbershop my father got his haircut in every Saturday, the town had changed before my eyes, turning into something I barely recognized.
The recent construction of a Target, albeit a necessary build, seemed to open up my eyes to the rapid demolishment of the small, college-town feel Chapel Hill had managed to hold on to and cultivate for 224 years.
With that comes the understanding that our town could change on a dime and the small shops I still love could disappear at any moment.
I have come to better appreciate the beauty of sitting in that same church park, drinking a hot chocolate and realizing that while the town may change, there will always be screaming Tar Heel fans and rows of ever-changing boutiques.
