Neighborhood Shops are Disappearing

About 6 months ago an entire city block near my house was demolished. That block held some longstanding businesses including a Karate place, a bar, a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant, and some other small businesses. What has come in it's place are a drug store (not so bad) but also the Money Tree, T-mobile, and Kinko's FedEx. Small businesses just can't afford to pay the price for new construction. And it's a damn shame too. It takes away the small town feel of our neighborhoods and doesn't allow us to connect with the merchants we've come to know and love. Who wants their neighborhood to become a strip mall. Yuck! A friend of mine who owns a bookstore in Seattle and had to close down her bookstore in Bellevue because the building was being razed and she couldn't find anywhere in Bellevue with rent that she could afford. I'm not sure what the answer is but maybe it's our city planners and laws about how areas are zoned. I'm guessing there is not much one can do if the owner of an old set of building wants to sell out for the money. If anyone has an answer to this problem I would love to know about it. Somehow certain neighborhoods like Greenwood have maintained that wonderful small town and individual proprietor ability. I wish the same were true for Lake City.