Dear Tuscaloosa County Commissions Board:
I am a student here at the University of Alabama, writing on behalf of myself, and two of my fellow classmates. First, I would like to express that Tuscaloosa is a wonderful college town. There are plenty of housing options as far as on and around campus. However, we all know that with the growth of the University, the surrounding town must expand as well. With places such as Midtown Village and the University mall, we have acquired a brand new bookstore, several luxurious clothing stores, and a few restaurants. However, I have yet to notice any changes in the requisites for the types of restaurants allowed in our county. The food may be different, but they are basically almost all the same, which are Corporate-owned chains. This is my home, where I was born, and I would like to see some of the money circulating here in this town to go back to the benefit of our community.
One reason that we chose to write you, concerning this issue is that one of my fellow classmates involved in the composition of this letter, is from Houston, Texas. In moving to Tuscaloosa in order to attend our University, she was amazed to find the lack of variety concerning restaurant choices in the area. It was especially alarming, considering the fact that this is a college town that must generate a lot of revenue, when school is in session. The town grows 27,000 people on any given school day and about 100,000 on a game day. The lack of restaurants has been a problem residing in this city for quite some time now. Ever since I was a young girl, there have never that many places to eat, unless you wanted a pre-cooked, over-priced meal, even if you’re at a nice “sit down” restaurant. I fear that many of our fellow students choose to eat at places like Checkers, McDonalds, and Burger King, not because they want to, but because it is the most convenient place to dine. These places are not expensive as sit down restaurants, they are open late at night, and have convenient commodities such as drive through windows. On the other hand, the food is shameful, not to mention completely detrimental to our health in every way I could fathom. With the steady rise of illnesses such as diabetes and other bodily state illnesses, do we really want our friends and neighbors habitually eating these kinds of foods?
This issue really hits home for me because when I was a kid, my mom’s (who works for the UA) favorite restaurant closed down. Some of you might remember the restaurant by the name of “The Landing.’ It was, at the time, one of the only locally owned seafood restaurants in town of Tuscaloosa. I still remember when it happened. The initial plan was to renovate the building, but the cost of the repairs were far too expensive for the restaurants owners. At this point, the city could have stepped in and helped out the local business owners. I believe that we should all take care of each other in this town because of the fact that we, as a whole, are a community. Nevertheless, I was too young then to have really understood what was going on. Consequently, The Landing never reopened and the Olive Garden took its location. I should not have to point out the paradoxical ending to this cheerless demise.
Let me make one thing clear, our city has plenty of eateries. The problem that stands is that the main areas of restaurants are not of good quality, due to the fact that they offer “fast-food.” Personally, as a student and a single-mother, I seldom ever dine out. Sometimes, on special occasions, my parents will take me to dinner at the restaurant of my choice. The restaurant of choice used to be “The Globe.” However, The Globe restaurant recently closed because the owner was not able to compete with the fast pace of a college town with the over abundance of too many other fast food places.
The history behind such restaurants as The Globe is quite a remarkable one. The owner, who I knew personally, as I worked as a server, and his wife were both University of Alabama graduates. As I understood it, he earned his degree in theater and remained in Tuscaloosa after he graduated. This gentleman became lucky and found a extraordinary spot on the corner of Main Avenue in downtown Northport, and decided to open his own restaurant. He named The Globe, after The Globe Theater in London, England. As it goes, he happened to be an immense lover of Shakespeare and the restaurant was themed after the actual theater that William Shakespeare’s company of actors built in 1599. The Globe restaurant was a marvelous place, not only because it was incredibly beautiful both outside and in, but also because the food served there was fantastic. Not to mention, they had the most extensive wine menu in all of Tuscaloosa. The point behind this elaborate portrayal is simply this: by allowing more corporate owned restaurants in our city, we end up extinguishing the beauty behind what truly makes a city, the exclusive, city’s-own details.
Therefore, what I propose to you is this: Please invest in our town and the wonderful members of this community who call Tuscaloosa home. There should be a defined limit on the amount of corporate owned chain restaurants allowed in Tuscaloosa. If we bring more global restaurants into our country, that we can also bring here, it will eventually help Tuscaloosa grow and bring more revenue in for the economy. This will not only enable a new and different kind of job market, but will also make dining out more stimulating and healthy.
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