posted 2007/10/28 at 21:18
I've written several times in the past about the major traffic intersection about a mile south of my house. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's one of the most important in Toledo, but it's definitely at least a second-tier intersection in terms of both the amount of traffic it funnels through as well as all the important destinations that are close to it. I can still remember how each building near that intersection has changed over the years, although I don't get to see the southern side of it that often now that I'm not going to UT anymore.
I went past there yesterday on the way to the grocery store, though, and saw something quite odd. Back in the early 80s there was a roller skating rink that my sister used to go to, although I never got to go there. (The one time I put on roller skates in my life, I went about three feet and fell and broke my right forearm fairly clean, and wound up spending half the summer between kindergarten and first grade in a plaster cast and unable to swim.) Over time that building held a variety of businesses, most recently a pool table/recreation room vendor, but it got demolished recently. Yesterday I saw that they're building this huge two-story Gold's Gym on that land, which isn't so surprising given that the Powerhouse Gym near our house recently shuttered. However, in the tiny retail building that just opened where my childhood McDonald's used to be (that McDonalds having moved one spot over to the old Big Boy land), Gold's Gym has rented out a space there, apparently as a "preview" of the new building. I've never heard of a company doing something like this before, and given the cramped space that they're in right now, I can't imagine that they could be getting much business done there. (If they need a space to handle office stuff, why not just rent a trailer?)
The presence of the Wal*Mart that was built there a few years ago, though, continues to have a chilling effect on the area. They're currently converting this store over a Supercenter, which I fear will cause the nearby Meijer to start suffering even more. As it is, the Kroger just south of there has started going down the crapper at an alarming rate, and I don't see myself shopping there again soon unless I absolutely have to. (I hate having to drive longer to get to a Kroger, but there is a nicer one that I pass fairly close to on my way to and from work.) More than anything, though, I'm still upset that Wal*Mart's presence forced the K-Mart on the opposite corner to close down; that K-Mart was on "my" corner (meaning that I didn't have to cross any of the major streets to get there), so that was the only store I could go to by myself when I was young and just had a bike to get me around. That building is still unoccupied, and I doubt that anyone's going to want to put a store in that close to the Wal*Mart anytime soon.
Unfortunately, this has caused something very bad to happen. There's a part of that old K-Mart's parking lot that is fairly hidden since it's sandwiched between an old auto repair place (also abandoned albeit long before Wal*Mart came to town) and a gas station. Now that there's no lighting in the parking lot, that particular space of the parking lot has become an absolute haven for drug transactions. If I'm ever driving by there after sunset, it's hard not to look over and see some shady business going down between different parked cars. I'm not saying that this part of town has ever been that great, but it was certainly a lot better than this, and the general vibe I get around here is that no one feels like they can do anything to get the drug dealers to at least not be so blatant about what they're doing just a mile south of here.
As much as I love this part of town, and as much as I still get chills thinking about moving away when I finally find a full-time job somewhere, it just seems like things get worse here week by week. I'm not saying Wal*Mart is entirely to blame for this, but their presence here certainly isn't helping matters any, as the same things that seem to happen whenever a Wal*Mart moves in nearby are starting to happen close to home. Times like this make me worry about ever being able to really escape the huge shadow Wal*Mart casts over so much of this country.
copyright © 2008 Sean Shannon