Editor,
My wife and I are long-term residents and real estate investors in the Village of West Clay. I must say that I found your recent article titled “Wilting West Clay” to be inaccurate. As I drove through the Village recently, I counted over 20 homes under construction. Wilting? I think not. Count the hundreds of people enjoying one of the Village’s summer concerts on the green. Wilting? I think not.
Every home that is built, sold and occupied, adds another household and disposable income to the Village market. There is no question that our retail district has had some real problems gaining footing. I would like to point out however, that the three anchor businesses that closed all had unusual circumstances relating to the owners that led to their failure. In my opinion, these unusual circumstances had a profound impact on the businesses and severely diminished their chances of success. These failures were not the fault of the Village, its residents or its developers. Am I disappointed in the current situation of the retail/restaurant facilities in the Village? Of course. I am, however, also very optimistic that the Village will succeed in its quest to have the downtown environment as envisioned by its planners and developers. We are seeing signs of it already with the pending construction of a building that will house a new restaurant
One of my favorite movies is “Field Of Dreams.” That famous line “If you build it, they will come” applies to the Village. It’s built, the residential numbers get better month by month. It’s only a matter of time, a short matter of time, before the retail and restaurant environment in The Village of West Clay sprouts, not wilts.
Jim Winner, 46032