"The City" Part Three

I like cities but without distinctive neighborhoods there is no reason to leave your block. The city has been working to promote Neighbor Business Centers. Garland, South Perry, Hillyard, Monroe and East Sprague are all designated under this program. Teresa Cameron seems to be a motivated and organized advocate for these areas. Through the NBC's website you get a feel for the dynamic nature of this effort.
We all want these neighborhoods to become more vital but it does seem as if there are barriers to them reaching the goals of the community. In the Perry district, Grant Elementary has been a barrier to development. Due to the close proximity of the school, the law does not allow for a restaurant to obtain a liquor license without the school giving it's approval. I know of two request denials that have occurred in recent years. Everyone sees the silliness of allowing Hai's Market to sell 40oz bottles of Malt Liquor and packs of cheap smokes, while denying restaurants the one tool that could make the difference in surviving through the pioneer phase.
A recent report at Taste of the Town suggested that the Garland District was getting a 400 seat live music venue but since then the post has been removed suggesting that Garland still is waiting for something to help anchor the neighborhood beside the venerable Garland Theater. The near northside area has the largest population base of the designated business centers and is already a destination for cheap movie goers and those in need of some skin art, so it seems that they have the greatest potential. Don't even get me started about the possibilities with the grocery store.
I hope that as people look to develop new businesses they see that not only are there advantages to locating in these neighborhood centers but they see that there is a plethora of services that the City has to offer the neighborhood business people.