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OPINION Monrovia Old Town report: Double meat, double cheese, double traffic?

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| Photo courtesy of Jerry Huddleston/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Shawn SPENCER

shawn@girlfridaysolutions.net

Isee a lot of chatter about how the city should be aggressively trying to bring new businesses to

Monrovia. Why is Applebee’s still empty? Round Table? Bed Bath & Beyond? Granted, these locations have been uninhabited for quite some time, but I can’t help but wonder what business the community would approve of in their place.

Thus far, the majority does not approve of Chickfil-A, they do not approve of Raising Cane’s or Starbucks and In-n-Out is apparently a big no-no. Oddly, there does seem to be a freakishly large amount of support for Cracker Barrel.

Clearly, we don’t want empty businesses, but we also don’t want anyone to move in. Sure, traffic will increase on Huntington Drive. But how bad can it be? The city does extensive traffic studies prior to approving these businesses. In my experience, the only thing annoying about any In-n-Out drive-thru line is being in it at all. Driving by has never been an inconvenience.

Refresh my memory; did people complain when McDonald’s was built on Mayflower and Huntington? Taco Bell? Sprouts? Let’s flip the script for a sec. What would be ok? What if Amazon wanted to build a distribution center here? What if Nestle Water wanted to move to Monrovia? Maybe JPL could open a satellite office.

Bringing businesses to Monrovia strengthens our community. New jobs would be created. Local businesses pay local taxes, which would bolster our city’s revenue for improvements to our community. There is still going to be an increase in traffic. And where will these employees live? [Insert large housing developments]. No one seems to want those at all.

I admit I’m not fond of them. A few here and there are ok but you’ll never catch me in Old Town Pasadena because I can’t stand all of the development. It feels like you’re surrounded by newfangled projects or college dorms. But people must live somewhere. Will they want to drink water? Because there isn’t any. Ok, that makes me giggle a bit. I’m all for saving water. I catch extra water in the shower and save cooking water for watering. I fully understand that we are in a drought and need to conserve.

Adding new housing is not the same as creating new humans. These people are already currently using water. If I move to the Avalon, I’m still going to use the same water I’ve been using. So are the million-ish people that get their water from the San Gabriel Basin. When it comes to the drought, we’re basically all up sh*t’s [dry] creek, whether we live in a single-family home or an apartment building.

According to The Google, there are five ways to bring new business to your community: 1. Be a city where young people live and play. Check! We have that covered. 2. Good data tells a compelling story. Check! Our City Manager and his staff are quite exceptional, especially with giving good data. 3. Position yourself as an international location. Well, we’ll skip #3. 4. Elect and appoint visionary leaders. Intriguing. I’m excited to see what our newly remodeled City Council will do, once they get their sea legs. 5. Identify and exploit your cachet. We’ll skip this one, too, unless there really is gold in them there hills.

The trick is to keep our city charming and quaint. I’m not too worried about Old Town, but the Huntington Corridor seems to be up for grabs. I’ve always thought that you can tell you’ve left Los Angeles County once you start seeing nothing but shopping centers with all the usual suspects: Lowes, Verizon, Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, Ross, Subway, etc. Where do we draw the line at maximum occupancy? When will we say “ok, this is good?”

I would think that strict guidelines should be put in place, but what do I know. I just live and work here. The thing is, once we cross the line, there are no do-overs. I know we all agree that Monrovia is a special place to live and work. I hope it stays that way forever.

And now it’s father’s turn

Whenever Americans are asked, “Who was the greatest president we’ve ever had?” I’m sure that for most of us, the name of Abraham Lincoln is the first that comes to mind.

And for good reason: Not only was he an outstanding statesman, writer and orator, but also a man of great empathy towards all humanity, which places him among the most venerated men in history.

And I have my own reasons for naming Abraham Lincoln among my heroes: He was a warm and loving father. My favorite story of him as a sensitive father is the popular tale about him having received from an admirer a live turkey a few weeks before Christmas so that the first family could enjoy the prize fowl for their holiday dinner.

Well, in the meantime the president’s little boy, Tad, made friends with the turkey. They became inseparable and, like a puppy, the turkey began to follow the child wherever he went.

And of course, the story has a happy ending; when young Tad learned that his feathered friend was destined to be his family’s holiday dinner, he burst into tears and pleaded with his father to save him. Abraham was so moved that he interrupted a cabinet meeting just to issue a presidential “pardon” for the lucky gobbler. The family then kept the turkey as a pet and named him “Jack.”

Other presidents, of course, were also indulgent to their children — but we can be sure that none of them could top the story of Abraham Lincoln and his son Tad’s turkey friend.

To all of you who read this letter, I wish you a Happy Father’s Day.

David Quintero

Monrovia

| Courtesy photo