Mall Del Norte is a "Privately Owned Entity". If they don't want to fix their own streets and parking lot, that is their problem. The mall is the one losing out. Not one penny of Public or Tax Payer money should be spent on Mall Del Norte. If mall customers are upset, they should get on a bus going south to Money Saving Downtown Laredo.
Money-saving downtown is anything but, unless you want to buy generic merchandise.
It just seems like other cities are moving forward with WiFi and rail lines, and we're having our local service charge more and limit routes. Hell, not all the buses here have bike racks!
Read something disturbing in today's paper that the local "brain-trus"....(hahahhaa, sorry, I can't type that without laughing out loud, even when I mean it sarcastically)
Anyway, local City council exploring options. Does any other city pay for paving repairs at local privately owned malls?
Oh, and they want to send City Council members to Central and South America to "negotiate" trade opportunities! Sheesh.
Heard this weekend that there's a photo-shopped pic of a "TANO" campaign ad going around the internet, showing his face and name but with the "T" erased!
Pfft, the bus routes don't even make sense, for crying out loud. I'm shocked they don't offer a daily/weekly/monthly ride card (well, not really). Can't justify taking the bus for $2 round trip, even with the price of gas headed skywards again. Doesn't take a gallon to get to & from downtown.
How did Houston revitalize its downtown area? They built a light rail leading to there, with park & ride lots all over town. And it only costs $1. (or it did a few years ago...may have gone up since then). Now that folks don't have to worry about finding (and paying) for parking, they can't keep them out of downtown. Hint, City Council.
KeyRose, you are absolutely correct about the deterioration of city services including El Metro service, although I don't think the city should do anything for Mall Del Norte using public money. The city is simply mismanaged and has been since Aldo left office. However, I do take exception to your remark on Downtown Laredo. Sure, there are many stores selling "generic garbage", but there are just as many selling the same exact merchandise you can find at the mall or the North side, except you pay much less Downtown. It is that "Brainwashed" mentality that has people paying North side prices. Even Wal-Mart sells generic garbage (and they sell more garbage than anyone else), but people are brainwashed into thinking that they are getting a better deal at Wal-Mart. Guess what, it is simply not the case.
I'll do comparative shopping between Cindy and Ricardo's downtown and at the mall. Also, I'll see what a pair of Levi's or Nike's cost downtown as opposed to Academy or Sears. I don't think I'm going to find much of a difference.
Now getting back to the bus issue, city council was just discussing the legality of having the buses go into the mall and of helping to defray the costs of pavement upkeep. Councilman Garza said that it makes no business sense to have the bus routes omitted from the mall. And the mayor noted that delivery trucks also place a burden on the surfacing of the mall roadways. All agreed to point out that it was mall personnel who denied the buses from going in anymore. "The city had nothing to do with this decision."
Still, this points out a lot of things that are wrong with the area and its development. The only way you're going to have people dropped off at the mall is if you widen San Dario (frontage road) and construct a bus stop at the curb, the way it's currently set up with K-Mart and Wal-Mart. But I think the space is limited. The mall would have to agree to have construction take place on part of the parking lot.
Now, the mayor is concerned about the elderly that have to now walk two blocks to get to the mall. They would have to use the El Lift (mini-buses) service, but there are just enough of those to go around. Those Lifts are allowed on the premises. Either way, people are going to have to adjust. Personally I think they've had it too good for a long time, what with being taken right to the door.
Does anyone have any links to information that explain how other cities do it with their municipal buses and malls?
Granted, something in the back of my mind is telling me the mall wouldn't make such a business decision except for the fact they might feel (rightly or wrongly) that a significant % of the El Metro passengers are maids taking the bus to the mall and then picked up by their employers, thus bringing little or not economic benefit as compared to shoppers.
The malls in San Antonio are transfer centers, where more than one bus line converge. Some of the malls are also Park & Rides, either daily or when there are special events, such as concerts or Spurs games.
9 comments:
Mall Del Norte is a "Privately Owned Entity". If they don't want to fix their own streets and parking lot, that is their problem. The mall is the one losing out. Not one penny of Public or Tax Payer money should be spent on Mall Del Norte. If mall customers are upset, they should get on a bus going south to Money Saving Downtown Laredo.
Money-saving downtown is anything but, unless you want to buy generic merchandise.
It just seems like other cities are moving forward with WiFi and rail lines, and we're having our local service charge more and limit routes. Hell, not all the buses here have bike racks!
Read something disturbing in today's paper that the local "brain-trus"....(hahahhaa, sorry, I can't type that without laughing out loud, even when I mean it sarcastically)
Anyway, local City council exploring options. Does any other city pay for paving repairs at local privately owned malls?
Oh, and they want to send City Council members to Central and South America to "negotiate" trade opportunities! Sheesh.
Heard this weekend that there's a photo-shopped pic of a "TANO" campaign ad going around the internet, showing his face and name but with the "T" erased!
Pfft, the bus routes don't even make sense, for crying out loud. I'm shocked they don't offer a daily/weekly/monthly ride card (well, not really). Can't justify taking the bus for $2 round trip, even with the price of gas headed skywards again. Doesn't take a gallon to get to & from downtown.
How did Houston revitalize its downtown area? They built a light rail leading to there, with park & ride lots all over town. And it only costs $1. (or it did a few years ago...may have gone up since then). Now that folks don't have to worry about finding (and paying) for parking, they can't keep them out of downtown. Hint, City Council.
KeyRose, you are absolutely correct about the deterioration of city services including El Metro service, although I don't think the city should do anything for Mall Del Norte using public money. The city is simply mismanaged and has been since Aldo left office. However, I do take exception to your remark on Downtown Laredo. Sure, there are many stores selling "generic garbage", but there are just as many selling the same exact merchandise you can find at the mall or the North side, except you pay much less Downtown. It is that "Brainwashed" mentality that has people paying North side prices. Even Wal-Mart sells generic garbage (and they sell more garbage than anyone else), but people are brainwashed into thinking that they are getting a better deal at Wal-Mart. Guess what, it is simply not the case.
I'll do comparative shopping between Cindy and Ricardo's downtown and at the mall. Also, I'll see what a pair of Levi's or Nike's cost downtown as opposed to Academy or Sears. I don't think I'm going to find much of a difference.
Now getting back to the bus issue, city council was just discussing the legality of having the buses go into the mall and of helping to defray the costs of pavement upkeep. Councilman Garza said that it makes no business sense to have the bus routes omitted from the mall. And the mayor noted that delivery trucks also place a burden on the surfacing of the mall roadways.
All agreed to point out that it was mall personnel who denied the buses from going in anymore. "The city had nothing to do with this decision."
Still, this points out a lot of things that are wrong with the area and its development. The only way you're going to have people dropped off at the mall is if you widen San Dario (frontage road) and construct a bus stop at the curb, the way it's currently set up with K-Mart and Wal-Mart. But I think the space is limited. The mall would have to agree to have construction take place on part of the parking lot.
Now, the mayor is concerned about the elderly that have to now walk two blocks to get to the mall. They would have to use the El Lift (mini-buses) service, but there are just enough of those to go around. Those Lifts are allowed on the premises.
Either way, people are going to have to adjust. Personally I think they've had it too good for a long time, what with being taken right to the door.
Does anyone have any links to information that explain how other cities do it with their municipal buses and malls?
Granted, something in the back of my mind is telling me the mall wouldn't make such a business decision except for the fact they might feel (rightly or wrongly) that a significant % of the El Metro passengers are maids taking the bus to the mall and then picked up by their employers, thus bringing little or not economic benefit as compared to shoppers.
The malls in San Antonio are transfer centers, where more than one bus line converge. Some of the malls are also Park & Rides, either daily or when there are special events, such as concerts or Spurs games.
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