Illogical

I think I figured out why Keagy Village in Roanoke County remains empty and cannot attract tenants. The rent they're asking is too damn high! I happen to know of a restaurateur who had a very successful restaurant in Salem years ago which he sold and then relocated to Christiansburg where he opened another thriving establishment. I was thrilled to hear that he wanted to open another restaurant back in Roanoke and was checking out Keagy Village. The developer wanted $9,000 a month rental. Is he kidding? Naturally the restaurateur passed and is looking for another local location. But really $9,000? That place is a morgue. They have no anchor, and only Dunkin Donuts, Firehouse Subs, Ntelos and Scottrade. The place is huge. I would think they would have jumped to get this guy in at a reduced rate so they might be able to attract other vendors. It's illogical not to. No wonder it's vacant. In fact, didn't I hear at one time they were willing to have downtown vendors relocate there, rent free?

And what's the deal with the Roanoke River Greenway in Salem? It seems the recent flood has once again destroyed the path that they had just fixed (well some of it anyway) from November's flood.



After I saw the damage from the first flood I wondered if they were going to address flood control before cleaning and clearing up all the debris, restoring the guardrails and re-asphalting the damaged trail. I spoke to some workers who didn't have a clue but did remark that they expected this to happen about every three months, which was fine with them because that meant they would have work. Your tax dollars at work!

Now, I do like a greenway. In fact I really enjoyed this greenway the times I was able to walk on it, but it just seems illogical, a total waste of money and an exercise in futility to keep rebuilding it when nothing is going to be done to control the flooding. That water's got to go somewhere and every time it floods it washes away whatever's there, sorta like flushing your tax dollars down the toilet.