Thursday, February 26, 2009

They Paved Paradise And Put Up...Nothing!

Everyday I drive my son to school.  To get there, I must navigate around a narrow three-way roundabout, where drivers are supposed to yield, but often don't.  It gets quite crowded about 7:45 in the morning when we make our journey, and with any luck it will become more so.

This bottleneck was created in the name of progress.What was farmland has been sold for development.  Good for the farmer, I guess. Since last summer, a strip mall has stood where the farm used to be. Rumors have been flying around my subdivision about who the tenants of this eyesore will be. Here are some of the hopeful guesses:

a pub
an Indian food restaurant
a bank
a coffee shop

But as of February 2009, there are no businesses occupying the strip mall. It does have a name, though, The Village on Scholls Ferry.  I understand why the mall is vacant. The economy is in free fall.  That doesn't make it any less depressing when I drive by this development and think about all of the work(and money) that went into this mall that apparently no tenant can afford to move into. In more ways than one, I believe this project is a waste of money.  And God help our neighborhood when the mall does become fully operational. Then traffic will really be a nightmare.

I contacted Kate Smyth with JCR Development by email to ask if and when any businesses will be opening soon. She responded that, so far, only a salon has signed a lease and that, of course, she is hoping that other businesses will follow suit.  

I propose tearing it down and growing some trees if they don't.

2 comments:

Yukon said...

My two cents? W/global warming, energy issues, etc., we should be tearing down a hell of a lot of stuff and planting some trees so we can still keep breathing while we pump more co2 into the air. Radical, I know, but what do you expect from a "closet tree hugger?"

Ralph said...

Hi Eden,

I wanted to say hi because we are probably the only two cancer (and chemo) surviving, adoptive parents with an interest in the "Village on Scholls Ferry".

I bought one of the town homes right next to it and am hoping the development will help property values when it is full of stuff an easy walk from our town home. Anything that helps property values is a good thing right now.

My blog is at: planetralph.blogspot.com

Best of luck to you!

Ralph