Photos by Bill Wright Railroad Street is a neat thoroughfare off Main Street that houses a number of restaurants and retail businesses like Baba Louie’s Sourdough Pizza and Karen Allen Fiber Arts. This year here, there, and everywhere was really, really bad, but in Great Barrington a surprising sentiment endures: optimism. We want the Berkshires to remain the Berkshires, says Betsy Andrus, executive director of the Southern Berkshires Chamber of Commerce. The key thing now is getting people to understand that shopping local isn t just a phrase. It s hugely important. You need to invest, eat, shop, and donate if you want to keep the character of your community intact.