I want to continue on this topic because clearly there is an interest here. The question of whether Billerica can attract development that contributes to our quality of life (that is, stores, services, and restaurants that we can patronize) is an important question that should often be asked of town leadership.
Before I go any further, let me do a better job of defining the problem. Here is a list of the establishments that have opened and closed since I moved here 5 years ago:
Closed Places
- Lincoln Liquors (1)
- Coffee Emporium
- Friendly’s (2)
- D’Angelo’s
New Places
- Towne Fair Tire (3)
- Dollar Tree
- Liberty Bell roast beef
- 7 Nana restaurant
- Planet Fitness
And that’s it, folks! Not much new activity to speak of in the town of 40,000+ people. Worse, almost every time we added something, we lost something else. We are extremely fortunate to have 7 Nana, which has great food and is a lot of fun. (Too bad I can’t afford to eat there more than a few times a year.) We should have a dozen others like it. I’m sure I left out some items on both lists — please add to them.
[Notes:
(1) To be fair, Lincoln Liquors simply moved to Treble Cove Plaza, so we didn't really lose it. But it does leave the town center without a liquor store. This is like Los Angelis not having an NFL franchise. Yes, you can get beer and wine at Jim's Quick Stop in Convenient Plaza. Right next to the live bait.
(2) A "for lease" has sprouted up on the former Friendly's front yard. I suppose the real estate listing reads something like, "Small restaurant property with prime view of Mount Rosa and a 30-second drive to an eroding big-box drug store; 50,000 vehicles per day past site and zero foot traffic." Any takers??
(3) This actually shouldn't be on the list, because it opened just before I got here. Also, it replaced a Burger King, I believe, so whether or not this is a step up is open for debate.]
In the comments to the original post, Rick says:
we are likely to become that pond around which all the expensive real estate is built. In keeping with that scenario, I can already see the surrounding towns standing on the piers and boat docks plucking away our best and largest fish one at a time.
This is a great analogy, and we should use it again. And he is right; it’s not just Burlington. Chelmsford just got a a new Stop & Shop. Wilmington’s recession-busting building boom on Route 38 has been well-documented and was more than once referred to by Billerica BOS candidates. Tewksbury has successfully instituted mixed-use zoning and several leaders there have been quoted about positive economic development. And that’s just our direct abutters.
They are beating us. Badly. Does this bother us at all? Do we have any pride?
InterestedReader says:
I clicked on the link and it showed Burlington’s medium family income as $104k. Also, the daytime population of Burlington triples with people who work in all of the nearby high-tech companies with high paying jobs. So yes, I think demographics probably had a lot to do with it.
The census distinguishes between family and household incomes. I listed the household median, but the difference is negligible. Anyway, Mr. Reader is making my point for me. Good development begets good development. Remember our former Town Manager, Bill Williams, was run out of town for publicly saying Billerica needed more curb appeal. We should have lined up behind him because he was right. Instead we shook our finger because our feelings were hurt. The Selectmen and Town Meeting (of which I am a part) has done nothing to improve quality of life since completing the library, and that was over 10 years ago. These sort of improvements are among the things that businesses (like Wegmans) are looking for when scouting a place to land. Not only does a nice town help attract future employees, is demonstrates that the town cares about its businesses.
We say we are “business friendly.” Every town does. But here all it means is, “we will give you tax breaks.”
Mike says:
Touche on your last point, Jeff. It’s far easier to complain than to step up and act.
Yes, and we have a lot of work to. Other towns have already done this work, some of them a decade or more ago. That’s whay they are ahead. Meanwhile, with our three old Market Baskets squatting in their aging, overgrown strip malls, we are the town that time forgot. We need to do a ton of work just to stay even with competing towns.
In the coming weeks, I will outline what sort of work needs to be done and how interested people can help.
