Monday, October 22, 2007

A New Look at Abingdon

I'm surprised at the dearth of news in the area, so being a former newspaper-type I thought I'd start writing about topics that interest me, and probably at least a few others in the area.
Let's get started.
I'm relatively new to the area, we moved here from Philly burbs about 3 1/2 years ago and one thing I've noticed -- Abingdon is looking a lot more like Philly in the last few years. And I'd like to add, I don't mean that in a good way.
I live near the Wal-Mart, Target complex and am surprised by the two recent additions -- yet another self-storage space and a pet mega-store.
Where is the good sit-down restaurant I was hoping for? Are there others out there as disappointed as me? I guess the rumors about Outback going there were just that. And maybe readers could tell me if they are allowed to build on every available space in that complex? The traffic is getting terrible and there's no end in sight.
Getting back to the Philly reference, I was thinking as I was driving away from BJ's that in 5 years the place was going to look even dumpier, which reminded me of a strip mall near my house in Philly. There was so much trash you couldn't even see the grass. There were dead plants from discarded "beautification" efforts. Look at this complex and you can see, it's not long in coming.

4 comments:

Mildred Speaks said...

Who would disagree? The area is not a pretty as it once was. Now, I hadn't heard about the potential Outback but that would have been nice. You may know this but about 20 years ago, a developer wanted to build a mall in that area. The neighbors got all scared and fought the development, and won. Sadly, this did not change the commercial zoning of the area and left it wide open for individual business development. In hindsight, it seems obvious that the mall would have been a much better alternative. At least those developers were willing to put additional access into the area. So, instead of the two lane horror of a road currently there, there would have been additional access directly to 924. How much traffic can that sad little road bear? You know, I actually voted that there was enough in there already but a nice dining establishment would be nice.

Stacey A said...

Do you think that traffic bottleneck is why folks can get so surly back in those parking lots? A man yelled at my husband in the BJ's parking lot when he thought he moved his cart. And another man shouted obscenities at a friend of mine and her children when her car broke down and blocked his way for a short time. Maybe they are so fed up with the effort of getting back to those stores they lose their cool.

Anonymous said...

A pet megastore will be nice so I don't have to drive to the Harford Mall Complex's PetsMart. But the traffic pattern there is ridiculous ... I avoid the whole area except in dire need of a Lowe's or Target run (I am too snobbish to do Walmart ... ;o)

As a newer resident, I am amazed there are no indications that the town actually exists ... have you ever seen a sign saying "Welcome to Abingdon"?

Will be interested in following your blog ... thanks for starting it up.

PS ... Scotto's in Festival is a nice sit down place

lenebene said...

I totally agree!! It is nice to have a pet superstore going in there but they NEED to fix the traffic problem!! It's INSANE!! But the developers don't care, they just keep building! It's crazy. There is something going on between Walmart and Target... maybe another storage place ;)

Love the new blog!! Welcome!!