Today, rather than take the time to become familiar with the smaller businesses in our communities, we’re all too likely to just sail by in our cars until we spot the familiar logo of some relentlessly advertised Name Brand Product.

When we do this, we’re adopting the strategy of out-of-town travelers.

For out-of-town travelers, looking for name brands is fast and reliable. We can hop in our rental car in a city we’ve never been to before, quickly recognize the kind of street where, say, chain restaurants establish outlets, and soon be seated in a place where we know we can eat what’s being offered.

Unfortunately, it can be all too easy to fall into the same pattern in the towns where we live. If we’re relatively new to a neighborhood (and a lot of people are, changing homes and communities every five years or so), and if we also work long hours and/or have long commutes (as so many of us do), then adopting the traveler’s strategy of looking for bame brands can be so efficient as to seem almost natural.