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Matthew Yglesias doesn't like the term "main street." He writes:
In some respects, it’s not a big deal. A cliché is just a cliché. But I do think it’s harmful in some ways that American political culture continues to have such a small town orientation long after the country ceased being primarily rural or small town in nature. Most people live in suburban portions of large metropolitan areas and participate in an economy that operates in part on a global scale and in part on a metropolitan scale. It’s important, it seems to me, for our basic language about our politics and our society to reflect reality and not some dimly recalled echo of the past.Agreed. And then there's the stylistic case. "Main Street" is an evocative term. It's a quaint land, with small storefronts and aging people and diners that serve pie. Every time you use the term "main street," you call up images of that land. Which does not much exist. It's jarring. And it's terrible to contrast it with the bustling technocracy of Wall Street. An insult. As if the median American is stuck in Pleasantville before Reese Witherspoon came and made it all sexy. But because the political elites decided to cement "main street" as the alternative to Wall Street, you have to over-explain yourself if you choose a different term.
