Garland: misc. developments

[jrd1964]

A new movie theater-bowling alley combo is coming to Bush Turnpike/Holford Rd. Dubbed "Strike and Reel", the project is set to open next year. It's headed up by the group who run the Pinstack bowling-dining concepts locally.

Sorry, but I can't get my head around the name; much easier (and *much* more name recognition) to go with something that includes "Pinstack" in the name, IMO.

https://www.guidelive.com/the-burbs/201 ... 1476449082

[exelone31]

A new movie theater-bowling alley combo is coming to Bush Turnpike/Holford Rd. Dubbed "Strike and Reel", the project is set to open next year. It's headed up by the group who run the Pinstack bowling-dining concepts locally.

Sorry, but I can't get my head around the name; much easier (and *much* more name recognition) to go with something that includes "Pinstack" in the name, IMO.

https://www.guidelive.com/the-burbs/201 ... 1476449082

Dang, guess I'll have to think of a new name for my imaginary labor protest/fishing supply store

[jrd1964]

Fishing was one of the first things I thought of when I saw the name also.

[itsjrd1964]

A Chicago-area chain of convenience & fuel stores called Ricky Rockets is going up and almost open at Jupiter/Miller, on part of a previous Raytheon company campus (warehouse/commercial buildings are taking up most of the rest of that acreage). This is the company's first TX location. It is making space available for a retail and restaurant spot but those have not been filled as of yet. A car wash will be part of the store offerings, as well as extra diesel pumps for trucks. The article tries to draw parallels to Buc-ee's and Fuel City; from the looks of it, more Fuel City than Buc-ee's, but since the restaurant space hasn't been filled, it's not known if it's tacos, or something else. Some questioned the placement of the store, but apparently there is enough truck traffic with the nearby warehouse/distribution centers and side-street commuters to make it worth Ricky Rockets taking a chance there. Initially there was concern about the store from the city's planning/zoning department, but the city council in Garland was much more positive about the project, and approved it. There aren't many good convenience stores in that neighborhood, so it should do well, once people get familiar with Ricky Rockets and its concept. The store is due to open later this year.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/rea ... heon-plans

[Tivo_Kenevil]

When will Garland open up something that is not related to the Automobiles?

Everything is a car dealership, car wash, mechanic shops, tire shop or a gas station.

[cowboyeagle05]

Go downtown. They just finished building a parking garage and apartments around a refurbished City Hall. There is also another 200 units being built as part of a 1970's office building they stripped to its support structure and are reskinning to blend in with the new units they are wrapping around the edges of the site. Also, new restaurants have opened in their Downtown as well in the last year. You have to accept the reality though that Garland is more blue collar than Plano. Blue collar employment centers don't tend to attract the walkability driven developments because developers who build them want "high-paid" millennials and new age retirees which is not Garland's traditional demographic. It doesn't mean blue collar people don't want such development but Garland has been in a suburban rut for so long its hard to jump into being a part of the latest fad without dealing with the reality of their past.

The most progressive Mayor they have had in years stepped down because the rest of the council forced a parks project through that was badly planned and badly designed and against the wishes of the neighborhood. He was an active member of the Congress of New Urbanism.

Arlington and Garland have very similar political climates when it comes to who runs and wins their elections. Usually, good ole boys win elections and tend to drift more towards the good ole days kinda thinking that safe quiet neighborhoods with nice schools are the only American dream that matters. That doesn't mean urbanism is the opposite of that but if safe quiet and nice are your measuring tools for development "suburban auto-driven" is going to remain the standard development pattern.

I will say city staff tends to be more aware of the realities of the world that has changed around them. City staff tends to be filled with City Planning/Admin staff that has been to college and knows the car mode is outdated and has to be moderated if the suburbs are to survive. That true urbanism has to be addressed head-on but the policy makers aka the elected city council rarely have redevelopment knowledge to get them by without making mistakes. They have seen the renderings and what other cities have but they rarely know what to do to make it happen.

Garland is my hometown and its where I used to watch every planning commission meeting and city council meeting weekly. They always want what Plano, Frisco or even Dallas has but rarely get the opportunity to have such things. Its a city caught in its past as a bedroom community which rarely drives big flashy redevelopment projects.