The downtown corridor of Half Moon Bay - with its tourist allure and Main Street Americana feel - is where most businesses would like to be, but that preference comes at a price.
Economists' forecasts run the full gamut on the economy's slow recovery since Sept. 11, 2001 and the subsequent recession, meanwhile many businesses lie in wait for their optimism to be realized.
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All the while, overhead costs such as rent have remained at a standstill.
Prior to Sept. 11, 2001, retail- and office-rent prices were 10-to-15 percent higher than they are now, but some privy to the industry say rents were already heading down because the economy was entering into a recession on the heels of the dot-com bust.
"We never had the big run up, so we never had the big crash either," said Dave Worden, a commercial real estate broker at Windward Commercial Real Estate Services in Half Moon Bay.
"The market is starting to stabilize. At least it's not getting any worse," he added.
Rent prices in downtown Half Moon Bay are generally $2 to $2.50 per square foot, but can get as high as $3 in the 300 to 600 block of Main Street, Worden said.
To help businesses during this economic slump, some property owners and managers have lowered rents, while others have maintained the same price schemes.
"I think this is the time that we really need to step up and help our businesses," said Charise Hale McHugh, president of the Half Moon Bay Coastside Chamber of Commerce and Visitors' Bureau.
"They have hung on because they're waiting for the rainbow at the end of the tunnel."
And for some businesses that rainbow seems further off than it does for others.
Some business owners, especially those in the more premier areas of downtown, candidly discussed their financial straits due to high overhead and the flat economy, but none were willing to be named for fear of a negative reaction from property owners.
They say it's basically impossible to make a profit when uncompromising rent is combined with a lackluster income.
Other business owners are more fortunate; and grateful for property managers that understand the tough economy.
Peter Welch, owner of The Arrowhead Framing Center, said although he is pleased with his rent, he thinks people are paying "top dollar while the economy doesn't support it."
He said some businesses are struggling because they have "money-grubbing tyrants for landlords."
But, "I am the exception to the rule," he said.
Welch wanted to add that he's also speaking as a landlord. He rents out a studio apartment above his garage.
Going deeper, Welch couldn't resist adding a political slant to the mix.
"We're going to need lower rents until we have a new president. I do hold the current president responsible for the terrible economy," he said.
"I agree completely that shop owners should be able to negotiate for lower rent prices in this terrible economy."
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