In many downtown areas, there are a wide variety of activities to do. These activities include dining, shopping, going to a movie, and enjoying a good time at a parkside concert. This feature is present in towns such as Babylon. In Babylon, teens can do a variety of different activities. These include eating at a wide variety of restaurants such as Swell Taco, Gino’s, Kotobuki, buying a variety of desserts at Kilwin’s, and shopping at several high end retailers. However, Lindenhurst downtown has nothing for young people to do. There is nothing except for phone stores, outdated restaurants, and a few gas stations. In addition, there is a large parking lot with an abandoned Waldbaums that is a high crime area and a dangerous place to be at night. Many tennagers often go out of the town center to various shopping centers that are built with only the car in mind. As stated by senior Jacob Weber,”I often go to Applebee’s, and MVP Dinner with my friends.” After many Lindenhurst seniors graduate, they move out and one of the reasons is that there are no nightlife activities. This needs to change if we are to retain young people within the Community.

Firstly there needs to be a well established downtown center. This should be brightly lit and have a sense of activity. Secondly, there needs to be a wide variety of restaurants offering different types of cuisine such as Mexican, Italian, and Asian rather than just hamburger joints and pizza parlors. These ideas have surfaced as part of a proposal to transform the abandoned bank building on Wellwood into a restaurant. There should also be more parking spots around downtown Lindenhurst. The best places to put new parking spots are in underused greenlots and on the sites of abandoned properties In addition, there should also be an incentive for those who visit all the stores downtown.

These changes will require the support of our local government officials. If you want to see change, contact Village hall and tell them your ideas for a better Lindenhurst. If we don’t do anything, there will be a severe brain drain in Lindenhurst and people will drive further and further which increases the risk of a serve car crash. Our real estate values will not prosper as a result of this. If our downtown actually brought in activity and subsequently revenue, there will be an increase in real estate values. There will also be a bad perception of Lindenhurst compared to other areas such as Babylon without investment in our community that we call home.