"Over the past two years, the number of shoppers in Central Plaza has been steadily decreasing while the popularity of skateboarding has increased dramatically. Many Central Plaza store owners believe that the decrease in their business is due to the numb

The argument put forth correlates the increase in number of skateboard users to a drop in number of shoppers in the Central Plaza. And advocates a ban on skateboarding in Central Plaza as a solution. However, the decision arrives at a conclusion without factoring in relevant parameters and thus is short sighted.

The claim of store owners blaming skateboarders for vandalism and littering does not have a supporting evidence. The increasing number of acts of vandalism and littering could also be due to lack and/or slack in policing in the area and garbage collection. The writer also assumes that the customer's choices and purchasing behavior have not changed over the period of time. It may very well be that the customers do not find the Plaza as an attractive place to shop and have shifted to some other shopping area. It should be worthwhile to see of the revenues of all shops have gone down or is it a case with select few. This would help in defining the scenario more clearly.

The assumption that banning skateboarding will bring up the revenues of the Central Plaza does not have an anchored logic. It is purely based on the analysis that decreasing skateboarders would increase customers and thus profits. The customers must be asked as to what opinion do they have about the skateboarders. If they do not have a problem with them this means that banning skateboarding would not have any effect on profits of the Plaza.

Without considering these questions the writers suggestions fall short of thoroughly understanding the situation before advocating a solution.