Local businesses are integral to the unique character of each town. Iowa City is no exception, and its local businesses provide an inclusive, welcoming charm to residents and visitors alike. Despite the fact that I would love to support local businesses and the valuable character they bring to the city, it’s simply unrealistic as a college student.

Why?

Cost. Shopping downtown Iowa City is all fun and games until you look at the price tag and find your heart broken by the list price at the bottom. Some local shops downtown offer beautiful clothing, jewelry, and accessories at prices it claims anyone can purchase, no matter their budget. However, some local prices can run up to $300 for a backpack or $200 for a romper. Stores do occasionally have sales, but on a college student’s budget, prices like that just aren’t fathomable or realistic.

The fact is, one could get these items from a more commercialized store for cheaper prices. A resistant trench coat at a local store costs $575 when you could get a similar coat from Ragstock for $30 maximum.

In a college town, you’d expect local businesses to consider their market when they set prices and realize that a lot of college students already struggle to pay tuition, rent, utility bills, and more. However, prices in local businesses don’t cater to the college-student demographic. Instead, they service the marginal middle-upper class demographic of Iowa City residents.

“The income inequality of Iowa City (measured using the Gini index) is 0.501, which is higher than the national average,” according to Data USA.

I love local businesses, and I think they provide such a unique aspect to the community. It’s just difficult to support on a college budget. I mean, how can you be an inclusive business when you exploit a demographic of college students that almost take up half of a city’s population?

Local business Saturdays, shop local stickers, and enhanced local-business advertising campaigns all encourage us to think twice about where we purchase our next bracelet, pair of shoes, candle, or even jar of salsa.

Deciding to purchase your next pair of shoes at Revival instead of Walmart is a gift that keeps on giving. Local businesses provide venues for artists to sell their handcrafted products, employ community members, and allow community members to have a choice in where their products come from.

Unlike national chains, local businesses cannot rely on advertising, training, and brand recognition that come from being a part of a nationally known franchise. Instead, local businesses rely on community members to support them by choosing to shop in their stores.

But with higher prices, many question why it is worth spending the extra buck for a similar product — a fair question to ask.

Local businesses provide communities with a variety of products that simply would not be readily available if local businesses did not exist. A local business is more than just another option to get your next pair of shoes. Local businesses define communities. In Iowa City, our streets are riddled with local flavor. Every time people visit Iowa City, they are welcomed with hundreds of merchants they cannot find anywhere else.

I love Iowa City, and a big part of my love for this city comes from the shops that line our streets. Local businesses are an investment to our community — an investment that local people just like you and I should support.