Catching up on a couple of things I missed while I was gone:
• The news that a Studio Movie Grill is opening at Central and Forest explains why a similar business will never open around here. That location offers the sort of road access developers look for — located near expressways — as well as land in a strip center that has lots of parking and big storefronts. All we have are surface streets and older centers without parking and large enough lots.
• Who would have thought Emerald Isle would go away so uneventfully? Note to developers: Read the comments for that item, which should give you a good idea about what the neighborhood wants. I don’t know that we’re opposed to development, but we certainly are opposed to Frisco-style development. And, oddly, the church on Garland Road just north of the Emerald Isle site has a zoning change sign posted. Does anyone know what that is for?
• What effect will the credit crunch have on local development? Those of us who remember the bad old days in the late 1980s would assume that development will come to a standstill. But I haven’t seen any signs of 1980s-style panic yet, though that is not necessarily a positive sign. Often, those who panic first lose the least money.
