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What's Tally missing?


poonther

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OK I've seen this thread in other city forums before and I thought it was about time we had one ourselves. What stores, retailers or restaurants do you want to see in our city that aren't here. Now be reasonable and only apply retailers that could honestly work in our size market.

I'll start with the following that I have seen in markets around our size:

Costco (if you ever go into one of these you'll never set foot in Sam's again)

Whole Foods (could it be coming to old parkway Albertson's?)

Pottery Barn (I'm surprised Southwood didn't try and get them for their shopping district)

Williams-Sonoma (ditto on the Southwood comment)

Jamba Juice (tropical smoothie it ain't)

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As far as restaurants, I'd like to see a Denny's or IHOP. I've seen way too many people complain about the lack of either in Tallahassee.

I'd like to see 7-11 in this town. Oh thank heaven for them! :P

I'm not much of a shopper, so I can't say what retailers I'd like to see. I would like to see an in-town Wal-Mart though. All of our Wal-Marts on the fringes of town! We have one on the north side, east side, west side, but no in-town Wal-Marts (or on the southside for that matter). As a poor college student without a car, I'd like to be able to take a bus to Wal-Mart, or even walk to one that was reasonably near campus (Pensacola Street anyone?).

Does anyone think that Northwood could be revived back into a shopping destination? From what I understand, that was the first mall in Tallahassee, prior to the Tallahassee Mall opening right down the street. The location of Northwood is too valuable to be kept vacant. Demographically, it's not in a bad area either. The only downer I can see is traffic on Monroe. We could turn Northwood into an outlet mall! Whatever it is though, to be successful, it must offer something different from Tallahassee or Governor's Square.

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Whole Foods would be wonderful and I have seen Jamba Juice incorporated inside Whole Foods

Costco (Sam's Club can't hold a candle to them)

Kohls

PF Changs or at least their fast casul counterpart Pei Wei

Urban Outfitters - in a college town this size I think it would do great

Too Jay's - if The Village in Central Florida can have one so can we

Lens Crafters

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Amen to the Denny's request. It could be Denny's/IHOP/Perkins or Bob Evans. We use to have both Denny's and IHOP, but no more. I mean how many times can one go to the Village Inn? The V.I. is closing their N. Monroe location and are in the process of building a new one off Raymond Diehl in NE Tally. I think they also want to relocate the Parkway one too.

Not a fan at all of Wally-mart here, but I respect your choice. Wally-mart got into the retailing game late. In larger markets like Tally, they always seem to build on the edges of a city for cheaper land I guess? They are NOT about infill very much. Now Target they'll take an old store (one of theirs or another's) and remodel it. But not Wally-mart, when they redesign their building, they'll build a new one even if they locate it 5 feet from the old one. This is a reason I don't like them. Now a close-in Target on the West would be nice. When I lived in Lauderdale, I was very close to many Target's and K-marts, but the Wally-marts were way way out in West Broward, so I don't think it's a Tally thing.

As for Northwood, 3/4ths of it is being used for State Offices. But I do wish they'd fill-up the old Publix and Eckerd w/something.

YES to Kohls!

An heck yeah to Toojay's or any type of good Jewish deli. Besides Publix, Tally has no where to get good tuna fish salad/Chix Salad or corned beef sandwiches.

And for heaven's sake please update Gov. Square mall's interior. It's like going into a late 70's time warp in there. Tired ole brown tile that the newly added ones don't even match the existing ones, new chairs in the food court that don't match the old ones and stick out like a sore thumb and those disco light bulbs on all the interior poles....ugh! Makes me wanna wear a leisure suit when I shop there. Gov. Sq. you can't be North Florida's "fashion mall" if you are all dated inside.

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Amen to the Denny's request. It could be Denny's/IHOP/Perkins or Bob Evans. We use to have both Denny's and IHOP, but no more. I mean how many times can one go to the Village Inn? The V.I. is closing their N. Monroe location and are in the process of building a new one off Raymond Diehl in NE Tally. I think they also want to relocate the Parkway one too.

Not a fan at all of Wally-mart here, but I respect your choice. Wally-mart got into the retailing game late. In larger markets like Tally, they always seem to build on the edges of a city for cheaper land I guess? They are NOT about infill very much. Now Target they'll take an old store (one of theirs or another's) and remodel it. But not Wally-mart, when they redesign their building, they'll build a new one even if they locate it 5 feet from the old one. This is a reason I don't like them. Now a close-in Target on the West would be nice. When I lived in Lauderdale, I was very close to many Target's and K-marts, but the Wally-marts were way way out in West Broward, so I don't think it's a Tally thing.

As for Northwood, 3/4ths of it is being used for State Offices. But I do wish they'd fill-up the old Publix and Eckerd w/something.

YES to Kohls!

An heck yeah to Toojay's or any type of good Jewish deli. Besides Publix, Tally has no where to get good tuna fish salad/Chix Salad or corned beef sandwiches.

And for heaven's sake please update Gov. Square mall's interior. It's like going into a late 70's time warp in there. Tired ole brown tile that the newly added ones don't even match the existing ones, new chairs in the food court that don't match the old ones and stick out like a sore thumb and those disco light bulbs on all the interior poles....ugh! Makes me wanna wear a leisure suit when I shop there. Gov. Sq. you can't be North Florida's "fashion mall" if you are all dated inside.

I've never been to Village Inn, but I've heard nothing but good about it. I shall have to venture over there one day.

I don't like Wal-Mart much myself, I'm more of Target person myself. But I'm limited by my wallet so I have no choice. I absolutely hate Wal-Mart leaving big vacant stores when they move, what us urban planners call "grayfields". They did that in Pembroke Pines at the Wal-Mart I patron, built a new Supercenter five frickin feet from the old store. I don't know what's become of the old building as I haven't been home in awhile.

Thanks for the suggestions for good Jewish food! :D That's one thing I haven't had in YEARS! I've been away from Broward too long that I forgot about that :blush: We certainly do need one. Schlotzky's sucked and it went out of business (the one on Tennessee Street).

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Two more things I thought of:

A discount Airline for the airport and one that the people support.

Better local news. God please help us there! "Hicks on Six" WCTV needs a new studio now. The echo sound from their audio makes them sound like they are broadcasting from my basement. And "bad hair 27" needs to stop stumbling over all their words. Just read and pronounce it people. And everytime they start a new story, stop it please with that damn graphic saying top story and that awful zooming audio as they show it.

For me personally, a fully consolidated government and more palm trees. :P

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Good topic... DaiDreamer actually started a similar topic back in October, probably on page 3 of our forum, but I have no problem doing this over again.

I'll try to share my criticism of the local news in the Tallahassee Media thread, but I do agree with Poonther... I see exactly what you see buddy... People don't realize how important that is to outsiders who visit us and sit in their hotel rooms and watch our news. I'm not ashamed to say its embarrasing. And I've tried to do something about it. I've written WCTV, WTXL, WCWT(NBC when they were around) and even WTLH(FOX) even though that's CBS all over again and I've told them about themselves. But again... Tallahassee Media thread.

As far as the Denny's go... I'm still trying to sort out their reasons for leaving. I was under the impression that it wasn't due to the performance of any particular local store, but they were having some widespread financial problems and simply had to pull out of certain areas. I've had IHOP... and I'd rather not... nothing special about them, I'll take Waffle House over that place (that's not a compliment). Of course I'm basing my IHOP experiences on the IHOP on Oakland Park Blvd in Broward County.

I want to see Morrison's return to the mall. And I'd also like to see Tallahassee get a Crawdaddies (like that in Thomasville)... its worth traveling for if you haven't yet visited.

I'd really like for us to have an Apple Store downtown aside from that.... we need some major road makeovers... If only I had the mind of an engineer.

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I'm sorry DaiDreamer, I didn't mean to steal your "thunder." I looked for a thread like this but must have either overlooked it or not gone back far enough.

Yeah TJ I've read your comments on our media on the media page and we are on the same page! I think it's so bad here that it's worth repeating in every thread! Not serious about that. It's sad when smaller markets like Panama City and Dothan, AL have better local news than us.

I've not been to the Crawdaddies you speak of in T-ville. I assume by the name it's a seafood joint?

And an Apple or a Dell store in town would be sweet.

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I'm sorry DaiDreamer, I didn't mean to steal your "thunder." I looked for a thread like this but must have either overlooked it or not gone back far enough.

Yeah TJ I've read your comments on our media on the media page and we are on the same page! I think it's so bad here that it's worth repeating in every thread! Not serious about that. It's sad when smaller markets like Panama City and Dothan, AL have better local news than us.

I've not been to the Crawdaddies you speak of in T-ville. I assume by the name it's a seafood joint?

And an Apple or a Dell store in town would be sweet.

Huh? What was that? I actually thought this was the same thread until TJ mentioned it.

:P

(In case anyone is curious: http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.ph...topic=17255&hl= )

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Tallahassee is indeed missing a quality looking TV news outlet. TJ makes a great point that when visitors come to Tallahassee often one of their first impression of our city is the local news. Our two stations look like there are being broadcast on public access a la Waynes' World.

It's interesting that we used to have two IHOPs in Tallahassee and people seem to want them back. One was in the "round" Holiday Inn on W Tenn and the other was at the Holiday on the corner of Magnolia and Apalachee where the CVS and Borders now sit.

On another note, we need more shoe places like DSW or Broadway Shoes. They are sorta big box stores that could easily go into the soon to be devastated shopping plaza at Apalachee and Blairstone.

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Its funny how when we take things for granted, we wind up empty handed.... this may be what happened to these IHOPs and Denny's and the one decent news affiliate we had NBC40 and Florida News Channel, and the Tallahassee Thunder. People not caring, made them pack up and move out. I often wonder why SOME OF the people in Tallahassee can't "find the time" to support anything around here... it seems people are so comfortable sitting in their homes watching television all the time and never actually get out and show their faces.

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I agree... I think with a little creativity, Leon County could lure some excellent jobs to town.

Who on the commission has to go?

Bill Proctor HAS TO GO! I absolutely cannot stand that jackass. I live in his district and it's a wonder why it's a mess. I will never vote for him so long as runs in my district. :angry:

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This may sound strange, but unless there is some redistricting, he will OWN that District. OR there is the posibility that another high profile African American could challenege him and steal the seat away from him. That district votes strongly for African Americans, but this could be changing with Southwood thrown into the mix.

If I could pull ... I'd pull Thaell, and Ratcliff they lost me with the Fallschase comments. Ratcliff has often had come wonderful things to say on some key issues. I think his best moment, was one as a citizen speaking to the Tallahassee City Commission on the FSU v ADAR business. But as a County Commissioner. Sauls and Winchester are also on my hot seat. Sauls is kinda floating under the radar, but I know she's there... I've got my eye on her. And Winchester... again, not creative enough in my opinion to be against so many efforts to grow in the Northwest.

I'm just watching to see what he does with his All-Saints Property downtown before I act to bash him.

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This may sound strange, but unless there is some redistricting, he will OWN that District. OR there is the posibility that another high profile African American could challenege him and steal the seat away from him. That district votes strongly for African Americans, but this could be changing with Southwood thrown into the mix.

You're completely right. But he doesn't represent me, because 1) I'm white, and 2) I don't constantly portray myself as a victim. What he does represent is the idiocy of voters.......who'd rather vote on racial solidarity than competence. If you're dumb, you're dumb, regardless of color. I calls 'em as I sees 'em.

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I'm with you. And Proctor isn't the only commissioner benifiting from Racial solidarity, not by a long shot. I'd gamble that it would be nearly impossible for a minority to win in the North East district if they aren't running for an at-large seat. This is the seat Grippa holds, and I can't remember a time when a non-white person held that seat.

But what's missing is Tallahassee creativity... there's so much of it inside of us, but none of it is reflected in the things we build around here.

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Let's don't forget that Proctor is a shifty fella too. He lied about where he lived before and then he owed some type of back taxes or something and still does best to my knowledge. I am all for playing the race card when it's proper and needed, but that "jackass" pulls it for any and everything. I can't believe people in his district vote for him. Pure ignorance.

Radcliffe is my district's guy. I have voted for him two times in the past, but he won't be getting my vote this time. While I agree w/him socially, I don't on all other issues. His vote against Fallchase and Project North lost my vote for him. Hell I might even have to vote for a R...... I can't even type the word much less write it :)

Sauls surprises me sometimes w/her votes. I sure thought last night she would have voted yes, but she didn't. Those "local" types out highway 20 love her. I would not mind seeing her go.

Winchester, what a disappointment. Didn't he use to be a planner for the city or the regional planning council? He needs to go fast!

DePuy called all the people out in the Micco. Land Co-op hippie dope smokers one time. He caught flack for it but didnt' really apologize. I'm not sayin' the folks out there aren't hippie dope smokers, but is that a reason to be mean to them? I think not. Sometimes I think the county commissioners are high as a kite.

Grippa, I loathe him, just loathe him. How can someone that young and from NY be that conservative and oh so dang smug. Get that redheaded step child outta here. In the mayor's race, even the heavily white NE carried Marks. I think the right minority person could carry the NE, but it would be an uphill battle for sure.

I know that Thaell voted against Fallschase, but he redeemed himself in the Project North vote. Sometimes I like him sometimes I don't.

I say let's get rid of all of them. Consolidate governments please. But if not, let's get more women, intelligent minorities and young people on the county commission.

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Wow... I like your assessment of the County Commission.

Looking at what you've already established:

Thaell, he could win me back, but its going to take some time after that Fallschase stunt. I think the Turbocor thing was a start, but not much of one since his commission didn't vote the way I wanted them to.

Ratcliff... again, I agree with him as you do Poonther, socially. He was the man back in the 2000 mess between Gore and Bush, he was awesome during the ADAR condominium disputes, but as a county commissioner he has been a road block to speedy permitting, infrastructure, and economic developmen efforts... I'm just saying.

Proctor... sometimes I totally understand where the guy comes from, other times he loses me. Again, I think he's a loose cannon and I don't like loose cannons on the bench. I like to be able to predict how the commissioner will vote based on their core beliefs and promises made. Yes he has been in trouble several times for some petty things, but I think much of that has been blown out of proportion for exciting media. Proctor, to me is what Debbie Lightsey is to the City Commission, the most exciting person there. Because I never know what he's going to say, and because of how he says it, I'm always willing to listen to the man. He doesn't bore me. I wouldn't call his supporters ignorant, because he has done some very good things for the southside over the years.

Sauls, my girl.... not anymore! LOL! She voted no last night and its going to take alot from here to get back on my good list. Sauls rides under the radar, not in the news much, hardly ever does anything wrong, speaks softly, its amazing she still has her seat! I only wish more could be done to improve her district, especially along HWY 20 and Capital Circle SW.

DePuy... hmm... I don't like the circumstances underwhich he was elected and the doesn't help. However, he did vote in favor of Turbocor, which in turn is a vote in favor of economic development so he's ok with me. People do smoke that stuff out in the Co-Op... maybe he got a little mad and said something he shouldn't have.

Winchester.... I haven't been please with him on many occasions, but he the opportunity to redeem himself with his All Saints Development of the Coca-Cola Building. We'll see.

Grippa... he's not that young. He's atleast 45, and he smokes in public which I think is gross for an elected official. I really liked him before I saw him with a cigarette in his mouth one day at Publix, back when I used to work there, since then, I haven't seen him the same.

Thats mine for now... I'm sure I'll have more to say later.

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