Yes, that’s my personal opinion.

Following on the hells of my view of why we’re better off letting the Vikings leave instead of spending money we don’t have to build a new stadium, I thought it a fitting time to chime in on why the city of Cottage Grove [more-so the residents] don’t need a Wal-Mart.

There are many reasons why I feel this is a poor idea.

1) You can travel 10 minutes North to Woodbury, South to Hastings or West to Inver Grove Heights. All of those locations are less than 10 miles away, and you have a 4th option, a far 12 miles away in St. Paul.  Why do we need to saturate our community with more unsightly white ugly buildings and beat up station wagons?

2) The land proposed to build it on will do many things:

• Kill off Cottage View Drive-In, one of the few remaining Drive In theaters in the state.  Granted, the owner wants to sell, but someone else can buy the theater.  Heck, if I had the backing, I would.  Maybe I should ask the state and city to help me, and be just like the Vikings.  The site of the drive-in will essentially be a dirt pit used to fill in and level off the proposed build site.
• The proposed building location is very near residential areas that now have a back yard with trees and nature.  They would soon have ugly white lights, ugly building and semi-traffic continually.  Even with the proposed tree-line that would be planted, it would take years for them to mature and block the ungodly ugly building and lights
• Light pollution. Having lived about 500′ from a similar building, there is no amount of landscaping and trees that will drown out the yellow tint of the lights as they tower above the trees in the parking lot.

I’m sure there are more negative effects, but those are most prevalent in my mind.

3) Location: Now, recall, that the Home Depot closed a few years back, and that space has been vacant since.  While I have seen a sign for LA Fitness coming to 1/2 of that building in 2012, I have yet to see any activity or motion around the building.  Wal-Mart would have had a perfect opportunity (or possibly the LA Fitness deal fell thru and Wal-Mart can now purchase the building) – Recall the other 4 Wal-Mart’s within a few miles.  Home Depot has the same thing.. Woodbury, East. St. Paul, plus you have Lowes nearby as well.

You don’t need to build new when slightly used will do.  You already have the building, the space, the parking and the annoying lights residents have been accustomed to for years, why make more.

Instead of companies coming in, wanting to build huge ugly structures to schlep their cheap goods, why not fill up the empty spaces we have right now.  I can think of nearly a dozen buildings that sit empty in our small little town.

• Rodeo Night Club – Has been empty for 4 years now I think.  What once was a great country bar had turned into a home for rejects who didn’t fit the dress codes of clubs in Mpls/St. Paul.  As a result, it turned into a dive and closed.
• Strip mall behind DQ on 80th.  over 1/2 of those store fronts sit empty.  The leasing sign touts over 60k cars past it daily.  While I see this number as quite high, and the location isn’t the best, there is plenty of opportunity for business here.
• Rainbow Foods strip. – The bingo hall closed near the time of the smoking ban, and short of the space housing Halloween City or whatever last fall, it has been an empty hole.
• Home Depot – Closed for 4 years or so, due to corporate call to close stores across US.  Great location and space, perfect for any big box/chain store use.
• Hollywood Video / GameStop – More great real-estate that is just being wasted with excellent visibility.
• Blockbuster Video – This space is now open since they closed this Spring.
• KFC – Cloased last fall.  It would be a great place for a Chipotle to move in to. (HINT HINT)
• Further down 80′th, you have the front where Bonnie Blink Subs tried to make it and failed, mainly because their subs weren’t that good.

In short, you have many vacant spaces to fill up that could provide jobs, and help the local economy.  With a Wal-Mart a stones throw away in almost any direction, we do not need another one.  We need to be sensible about growth, but also need to be mindful that too much growth can hurt.  One look up Highway 61 in Newport will show you this after the construction of the new Hwy 61 corridor.  Many businesses closed their doors, as easy access to them was removed with the new roadways.

Do we need another one, or don’t we?  We have a Target, 2 grocery stores, 4 liquor stores 7 pizza places, not to mention 2 subways within 1.5 miles of each other.  I’d love to hear your opinion on this, so please chime in.

Tags: Cottage Grove, Not Needed, Opinion, Useless, Wal-Mart, Walmart, waste

The title could also read “The Vikings Do Not DESERVE A New Stadium”

Instead of going on about tractors or convertibles, I thought I’d offer up a topic a little more heated and of interest to more people.  That is the notion that the Vikes get a new stadium.

To me, this is a completely stupid, asinine, and moronic consideration.  Why do they need a new stadium?  It’s certainly not because they’ve been an outstanding team and need more space to seat all of the fans that currently cannot fit in the Dome.  It’s not because they are being evicted from their current stadium.  They had the opportunity to buy the Dome for a buck if I recall. It’s not because their stadium has been destroyed.  Mind you, the Dome has a brand new roof on it!

They want a new stadium because.. well.. Of all the reasons given, I can’t think of a valid one.

Now, They may have their reasons, and in some cases I would not argue them, however, in this situation I have a big problem with it.

1) They want state and taxpayer funding. – Why?  Based on this notion, why can’t I ask the government and taxpayers to give me money to build a new house, or buy that Ford F350?  Am I a stellar citizen, do I help ratings on TV, due I generate enough revenue to justify it.  HECK NO I DON’T.

If the Vikes want a new stadium, they need to pony up the cash, not expect essentially a stadium bailout.  I could possibly understand the City wanting to pitch in to help improve surrounding aesthetics and services above and beyond, but not covering the cost of running the services to the facility.  Again, do I ask the city to pay for my sewer and power to be paid for when I build a new home?  NO.  That’s out of my pocket.

2) They aren’t a stellar team!  I could see an easier time if the team was consistently getting to bowls, championships and has a standing track record of wins.. Take the Packers or Pats for example.  They have a consistent record of playing well, have a strong fan-base even when they aren’t a top team etc.  Why pay millions of dollars for a lack-luster team to have a new stadium, when their existing one is just fine.  I had this same issue with the Twins field, and have yet to set foot in the stadium for any reason.

3) State funding.  Plain and simple.  The State has far more pressing things to spend money on that are NOT a stadium..  They can’t balance the budget as is, and yet offer up millions for a stadium.  No. Fix the budget, fix the roads, fix taxes, fix your dang salary, fix education, fix any number of things that require money before it’s wasted on a needless stadium

4) Taxpayer funding.You can be damn sure, that if my tax dollars were going to fund the stadium, I would be extremely upset.  I want my tax dollars to go towards useful and wise choices, not wasted on a pointless stadium for a crappy team.

(A side note, I’m all for a reformed tax filing, where you allocate what percentage of your taxes go to what interest.  My guess it, you’ll have a majority of the population siding with infrastructure, education, and less on military funding, supporting other countries and stupid crap like new sports stadiums)

5) It’s said a new stadium will bring new business if built somewhere other than the current Dome location.  That’s all fine and dandy, but what happens to the existing establishments close to the Dome that depend on patrons stopping in, such as Huberts.  What about the added bus and light-rail fees generated on game day, local parking facilities.  Not to mention the massive amount of workers at the Dome that would more than likely be out of work due to being unable to commute to Shoreview, Arden Hills, or wherever else they consider putting it.  Someone said something about each reaction has an equal and opposite something something..

All in all, the approach is just flat out wrong.  If the Vikes want a stadium, pony up and pay out of pocket and don’t rely on a bailout.

What are your thoughts on this horrid plan?  Do you want to see your tax and state dollars go to a waste instead of investing in improving one a dozen or do you think it’s a good idea.

Whatever your opinion, I’d love to hear it.

Tags: Minnesota, sports, vikings, waste

Last night I started digging into the brake cylinder, it needs to be pulled and have the seals replaced.  I have one brake line left to free, and then I’ll be able to get it out.  I’m also considering as long as I have it off now, that I should clean it up, and put it back on nice and shiny.  Less to do when I actually do the frame cut-over is how I see it.

Once that is complete, I’ll be able to get back on the road with the Spit this spring and run around town with it.

Tags: antique, car, restoration, spitfire