Death of a Friend

A friend died this week.  Not a flesh and blood friend.  But, a restaurant that we’ve frequented for years and years.  I was driving south on Colorado Blvd. and saw that the gigantic American flag on its tall-tall pole with the truck on top was missing.  No cars in the parking lot was another clue.  And, seeing no cars around the La Quinta at the back of the space, another.

The current La Quinta has 130 rooms and sits on the north side of the Perkins restaurant.  The building that is to replace the La Quinta and the Perkins is described as having 370 units.  A seven-story residential space will sit atop a two-story parking area with 339 spaces.  Quick – no counting on your fingers, how many more, new people does that mean for the area?  The traffic will increase exponentially!

Buildings aside, my biggest concern is for the people.  The people who worked there, as well as the customers.  So many of the servers and their backup have worked there for years.  They have become friends.  Where will they work?  How plentiful are restaurant jobs?  And, most of them are not young.  They are solidly middle-aged workers.  How easy will it be for them to get jobs?  Perhaps, in today’s unique job market, they will do okay.  We can only hope.

The Perkins’ patrons is another thing.  At my “new” age of eighty-four, I am not the eldest customer frequenting Perkins.  I am reminded of the patrons of The Rosemary Cafe.  So many, many elderly.  Wheel chairs, walkers, canes.  Bent bodies walking in and out of the restaurant.  And, now Perkins is gone – just like the Rosemary.  Where will we find another family-centered restaurant with meals fit for our tastes?

And, my last concern, is for my retired-teachers organization.  We require a place for the membership to eat lunch, have a program, and hold a meeting – once per month.  “Retired” being the operative word, all of our membership is retired.  Retired teachers.  We need a separate room in which we can meet and do our business.  The restaurants with a separate room (free to the users) are few and far between.  And take weeks to find.

I’m sure that there are some people who think this high-rise is progress.  It will probably bring in revenue for the city.  And, it is true that it will provide living spaces for citizens – probably (my opinion), new people from California.  But, definitely not for those low-income folks who already live here.  We’re just not doing much for them, at this time.

We live in the West!  We were taught to use our cars and trucks in our everyday lives.  And, so we do – use our cars and trucks.  Is this construction purposely located in a place for use of public transportation and within walking distance of restaurants, markets, and other useful shopping?  Is this purposely intended to get residents out of their cars?  How many bags of groceries can you get from the market to your home without a car?  Do you make a market run every day on public transportation?  And, then have to carry the bags blocks and blocks from the transportation stop?  Do you pay to have the bags of groceries delivered?  Do you only shop on-line?

Does this all sound like science fiction?  Maybe, not!

Be Safe and Be Well

The Cranky Crone

Thoughtful comments are appreciated.