Nothing Happens on the West Side

 I've been posting more on Dreamwidth and have more or less abandoned this blog. Posted this one a couple of days ago. 

I live in an area of the city that is vastly underserved. We're surrounded by poorer neighborhoods, there are very few businesses to walk to. The major streets that border the area have zoning issues that do not allow ease for some businesses to just come in and start. The city has not been kind to this part of town. Neglect is policy. Murals are fine. I'd prefer to see thriving businesses in the empty structures instead of murals on the sides of them. 

In my twenty years here I can count on less that one hand, and probably closer to one, the number of sit down restaurants that have opened up. There is a dearth of food trucks, which is fine but they lack permanence. You can't sit down and eat outside of a food truck when its raining. There's nowhere to walk to if you want a burger and a beer. You have to leave your neighborhood to shop for everything. The nearest Kroger grocery stores contain parking lots full of drama, stores with understocked shelves and poor quality products. For years they've talked of improvements, calls for change. These last for a month or so before reverting to the same sad issues. Yes baby I promise I'll change.

There have been so many fits and starts in the twenty years that I have lived in this area. But if I had photographs of Broad Street or Sullivant Avenue then and now, I suspect there would be very little difference. Now compare that to High Street, or Town Street in Franklinton, or Parsons Avenue, or Oak Street.

In May of 2021 a sign went up in front of a building close to my house saying that a chicken joint was coming soon. Activity has been in fits and starts, but there's still no indication the place will ever open. I get that there are supply chain issues that are slowing things down, and the city has its permits that have to be approved. Money has to change hands and businesses seem to open quicker in better parts of the city.

I've been told to, "be patient" in online forums. I've lived here twenty years, I've been patient and so little has happened. I'm grateful for Third Way Coffee and all the efforts they are making to spin some business in the area. Sure, I can put my money where my mouth is, but anything I would start up would end up being the Fawlty Towers of retail. It's not in me anymore.

So I drive by the chicken place, say where's the chicken, go over the train tracks and recently boarded up apartment building to spend my money outside of my neighborhood. Every day.