The freeway exit that leads to Sycamore’s main street is an important motif that helps develop the theme of The Importance of Community. The freeway exit is a looming conflict for the people of Sycamore. In Chapter 2, Pavel observes, “Main Street was normally quiet since the Sycamore Mall had opened” (14). The mall caused many local businesses to suffer, and “Boxer’s Furniture Showroom was losing a lot of customers to the big new department stores” (19), which ties Cam’s family to the declining fate of the town.

In Chapter 3, Daphne expresses, “No wonder the Transportation Department was planning to demolish Sycamore’s crumbling interstate exit, now that there was another ramp a mile and a half down to service the mall” (23). Daphne’s statement comes paired with her own attitude toward the town’s decline, believing that “Nobody cared—not about a poor homeless beaver, not about anything” and observing “Our whole community wasn’t worth the cost of a little shoring up and road work” (23). Daphne sees that Sycamore’s decline is somewhat due to a lack of community spirit. The freeway exit represents the community in that both are crumbling and on the verge of destruction.