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They've bought a lot of prime real estate and taken it off the tax rolls which isn't good for the other citizens. I'm sure some anti-tax folks applaud this, but giving tax exempt status to any religious organization (especially one as questionable as Scientology) just puts more of a burden on everyone else.
Excellent point.
It's normal for religious organizations to be untaxed. That's pretty much engrained into American society. But what's unusual here is that Scientology has so much real estate concentrated in one town, thus starving Clearwater of funds.
I grew up in Clearwater. My family had a business downtown for over 25 years. I was working downtown when the Scientologists first arrived.
The ones you see scurrying about are the workers. They earn very little and work very long hours for the organization. I got on nodding acquaintance with quite a few. Never had any get pushy about their belief system. The most said was an offer of literature if I wanted it. Once in a while the organization sends out mailings of books or dvds to residents. Easy enough to dump them in file 13.
The moneyed folks attending trainings did drop money into the local economy. I have seen them at restaurants, stores and know of massage therapists, etc. who have visiting scientologists as regular clients. Many are regular clients of the private airstrips. I've never known anyone providing service to be proselytized.
They came to downtown when it was already in crisis. The city had closed the auditorium which never was rebuilt as they promised. Malls were becoming popular. Younger people were not comfortable shopping at places that provided traditional sales staff. Street parking was harder to find, largely due to Cleveland Street being reconfigured. Court Street was made into the downtown by-pass to the "new" bridge (which is no longer the new bridge!) which decreased visibility. The economy was in the toilet, there was an energy crisis in full force and downtown had a very visible homeless presence. Changes in Canada had decreased the number and spending power of seasonal residents from there. Canadians had been a huge percent of the snowbirds who stayed in the downtown residential hotels, of which there were a great many. In short, the Scientologists were able to purchase a great deal of real estate partly because no one else wanted it.
Over time some visiting Scientologists decided to stay and Scientologist owned businesses started appearing downtown. There was a lot of hatred and hysteria going on then, so you couldn't blame them from patronizing places where they knew they were accepted. More and more non-Scientologists were afraid to come downtown. They truly thought that they would be snatched off the street and never seen from again. The concept of "cults" was a new and scary thing at that point.
The Scientologists have helped crime decrease downtown. They are out and about enough to be able to spot situations that don't look right and call the police. I was in my shop at an odd hour to retrieve some paper work I forgot. When I exited the back alley door Clearwater's finest were there waiting for me due to a Scientologists call of suspicious activity.
It took a minute to sort it out, but as a business owner I appreciated the extra eyes protecting property! They have also pumped several fortunes into structures which were deteriorating.
All of these things contributed to the demise of downtown. The blame can't be laid completely on the Scientologists. The rest of the population has to take some responsibility too. Fear, changing shopping habits, population shifting to newer areas, business owners reaching retirement age and having no one interested in buying a going concern, all this and more contributed to downtown Clearwater dying.
It breaks my heart. I started working there when I was 4 and knew every nick and cranny. I knew every business establishment. It was home. It used to be a vibrant, bustling place with great shops, theaters, department stores and restaurants. All the banks and brokerage firms were downtown. Law firms, print shops, tailors, shoe repair - whatever you needed was downtown.
I grew up in Clearwater. My family had a business downtown for over 25 years. I was working downtown when the Scientologists first arrived.
The ones you see scurrying about are the workers. They earn very little and work very long hours for the organization. I got on nodding acquaintance with quite a few. Never had any get pushy about their belief system. The most said was an offer of literature if I wanted it. Once in a while the organization sends out mailings of books or dvds to residents. Easy enough to dump them in file 13.
The moneyed folks attending trainings did drop money into the local economy. I have seen them at restaurants, stores and know of massage therapists, etc. who have visiting scientologists as regular clients. Many are regular clients of the private airstrips. I've never known anyone providing service to be proselytized.
They came to downtown when it was already in crisis. The city had closed the auditorium which never was rebuilt as they promised. Malls were becoming popular. Younger people were not comfortable shopping at places that provided traditional sales staff. Street parking was harder to find, largely due to Cleveland Street being reconfigured. Court Street was made into the downtown by-pass to the "new" bridge (which is no longer the new bridge!) which decreased visibility. The economy was in the toilet, there was an energy crisis in full force and downtown had a very visible homeless presence. Changes in Canada had decreased the number and spending power of seasonal residents from there. Canadians had been a huge percent of the snowbirds who stayed in the downtown residential hotels, of which there were a great many. In short, the Scientologists were able to purchase a great deal of real estate partly because no one else wanted it.
Over time some visiting Scientologists decided to stay and Scientologist owned businesses started appearing downtown. There was a lot of hatred and hysteria going on then, so you couldn't blame them from patronizing places where they knew they were accepted. More and more non-Scientologists were afraid to come downtown. They truly thought that they would be snatched off the street and never seen from again. The concept of "cults" was a new and scary thing at that point.
The Scientologists have helped crime decrease downtown. They are out and about enough to be able to spot situations that don't look right and call the police. I was in my shop at an odd hour to retrieve some paper work I forgot. When I exited the back alley door Clearwater's finest were there waiting for me due to a Scientologists call of suspicious activity.
It took a minute to sort it out, but as a business owner I appreciated the extra eyes protecting property! They have also pumped several fortunes into structures which were deteriorating.
All of these things contributed to the demise of downtown. The blame can't be laid completely on the Scientologists. The rest of the population has to take some responsibility too. Fear, changing shopping habits, population shifting to newer areas, business owners reaching retirement age and having no one interested in buying a going concern, all this and more contributed to downtown Clearwater dying.
It breaks my heart. I started working there when I was 4 and knew every nick and cranny. I knew every business establishment. It was home. It used to be a vibrant, bustling place with great shops, theaters, department stores and restaurants. All the banks and brokerage firms were downtown. Law firms, print shops, tailors, shoe repair - whatever you needed was downtown.
Time marches on...
Excellent post and nice to read something involving some rationale versus the other unintelligent accusations made about what was going on with the Scientologists. Many of those comments strike me as rather similar to a non-Mormon resident's view of Salt Lake City which to anyone who has dug a bit deeper knows are completely off-base and often hysteria-based. Perhaps eventually sanity will prevail and Clearwater's downtown area can revitalize as it certainly has the potential.
Excellent post and nice to read something involving some rationale versus the other unintelligent accusations made about what was going on with the Scientologists. Many of those comments strike me as rather similar to a non-Mormon resident's view of Salt Lake City which to anyone who has dug a bit deeper knows are completely off-base and often hysteria-based. Perhaps eventually sanity will prevail and Clearwater's downtown area can revitalize as it certainly has the potential.
There is a HUGE difference between the Mormons and the Scientologists.....Sorry, Kyle, I don't see Clearwater's downtown revitalizing anytime soon. Sorry, if you consider that an "unintelligent" view.
There is a HUGE difference between the Mormons and the Scientologists.....Sorry, Kyle, I don't see Clearwater's downtown revitalizing anytime soon. Sorry, if you consider that an "unintelligent" view.
That's okay, the longer I'm in Florida the more I realize it's fruitless to expect otherwise.
I grew up in Clearwater. My family had a business downtown for over 25 years. I was working downtown when the Scientologists first arrived.
The ones you see scurrying about are the workers. They earn very little and work very long hours for the organization. I got on nodding acquaintance with quite a few. Never had any get pushy about their belief system. The most said was an offer of literature if I wanted it. Once in a while the organization sends out mailings of books or dvds to residents. Easy enough to dump them in file 13.
The moneyed folks attending trainings did drop money into the local economy. I have seen them at restaurants, stores and know of massage therapists, etc. who have visiting scientologists as regular clients. Many are regular clients of the private airstrips. I've never known anyone providing service to be proselytized.
They came to downtown when it was already in crisis. The city had closed the auditorium which never was rebuilt as they promised. Malls were becoming popular. Younger people were not comfortable shopping at places that provided traditional sales staff. Street parking was harder to find, largely due to Cleveland Street being reconfigured. Court Street was made into the downtown by-pass to the "new" bridge (which is no longer the new bridge!) which decreased visibility. The economy was in the toilet, there was an energy crisis in full force and downtown had a very visible homeless presence. Changes in Canada had decreased the number and spending power of seasonal residents from there. Canadians had been a huge percent of the snowbirds who stayed in the downtown residential hotels, of which there were a great many. In short, the Scientologists were able to purchase a great deal of real estate partly because no one else wanted it.
Over time some visiting Scientologists decided to stay and Scientologist owned businesses started appearing downtown. There was a lot of hatred and hysteria going on then, so you couldn't blame them from patronizing places where they knew they were accepted. More and more non-Scientologists were afraid to come downtown. They truly thought that they would be snatched off the street and never seen from again. The concept of "cults" was a new and scary thing at that point.
The Scientologists have helped crime decrease downtown. They are out and about enough to be able to spot situations that don't look right and call the police. I was in my shop at an odd hour to retrieve some paper work I forgot. When I exited the back alley door Clearwater's finest were there waiting for me due to a Scientologists call of suspicious activity.
It took a minute to sort it out, but as a business owner I appreciated the extra eyes protecting property! They have also pumped several fortunes into structures which were deteriorating.
All of these things contributed to the demise of downtown. The blame can't be laid completely on the Scientologists. The rest of the population has to take some responsibility too. Fear, changing shopping habits, population shifting to newer areas, business owners reaching retirement age and having no one interested in buying a going concern, all this and more contributed to downtown Clearwater dying.
It breaks my heart. I started working there when I was 4 and knew every nick and cranny. I knew every business establishment. It was home. It used to be a vibrant, bustling place with great shops, theaters, department stores and restaurants. All the banks and brokerage firms were downtown. Law firms, print shops, tailors, shoe repair - whatever you needed was downtown.
Time marches on...
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Great post and spot on. I too grew up in Clearwater and mid to late 70's downtown was getting crime infested so at the time COS was probably an attractive alternative to more Ritz theaters and Orange Peel discos.
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Great post and spot on. I too grew up in Clearwater and mid to late 70's downtown was getting crime infested so at the time COS was probably an attractive alternative to more Ritz theaters and Orange Peel discos.
I had completely forgotten about The Orange Peel! IIRC that place was huge. Disco was never my venue - I was much more comfortable at the In Between.
Excellent post and nice to read something involving some rationale versus the other unintelligent accusations made about what was going on with the Scientologists. Many of those comments strike me as rather similar to a non-Mormon resident's view of Salt Lake City which to anyone who has dug a bit deeper knows are completely off-base and often hysteria-based. Perhaps eventually sanity will prevail and Clearwater's downtown area can revitalize as it certainly has the potential.
Good point Kyle.
You have to realize that America is a nation with many religious bigots, from Jews and Catholics harassed by the Ku Klux Klan in the South, to the Know Nothing party harassing northern Catholics, to the vicious attacks on Mormons, to our current harassment of Muslims.
At the beginning of the republic, it was an open question as to whether a jew could serve in the congress.
So harassment, suspicion of Scientologists is just part of American tradition.
It's normal for religious organizations to be untaxed. That's pretty much engrained into American society. But what's unusual here is that Scientology has so much real estate concentrated in one town, thus starving Clearwater of funds.
Well, if they move into abandoned buildings that don't pay property taxes, how does the city lose anything?
The Clearwater area, specifically the downtown, is a mecca for Scientologists from all over the world who pump money into the local economy. This should be reflected in the sales tax revenues for the city.
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