John Keith drives through Dudley Square one recent evening and finds everything closed up. He's not all that far off. Things could be better in the Triangle, but the area has come a long way in the last ten years. Now there's a Dunkin Donuts and street vendors where before there was nothing. During the afternoons at least now, Washington Street is bustling.

But Keith's right. Keeping chains like Walgreens out won't necessarily help the local merchants. The traffic that the bigger stores would bring in would be more helpful than harmful to smaller businesses in the area. Dudley needs more business, more traffic, more customers -not less.