It's Not About Starbucks (or is it)?

 

About a block and a half from my home in a major intersection.  At the southeast corner (which is nearest to me), is an empty building.  Back in 1995 it was a Bank of NY (I remember this because they didn't shovel/de-ice their parking lot well and my husband fell and broke his ankle one Monday morning.  I recall this clearly because we were not yet married and it was the first day of a new job for me.  I had gotten on the bus to work and he was catching a later one; only he never got there.  Instead he ended up laying on the ground until an employee came to open up the bank.  Then he had them call an ambulance AND my mother who took control of the situation until I arrived home that night blissfully unaware of what had happened that day.)  It eventually became a Chase Bank; the second one in my small little town.  It eventually closed.  I'm not sure when but it's been empty for quite a long time.  (I do know that it was open in 2005 because the night before my son was born my husband went to the ATM there to get cash.) Now all these year later, Starbucks may be moving in.

I am not a huge Starbucks fan.  If they are around and I need a latte, I will go there, but I'm not going out of my way.  But I don't hate Starbucks either.  In my little town there are already 3 coffee shops (one of which is practically on the border of the next town to the north) and a "pseudo" Dunkin (they are part of a gas station/convenience store set up and their service/menu is limited).  There are also quite a few convenience stores and bagel shops where you can also get coffee.  (For a town of under 5 square miles we have 4 bagel shops that I can think of!)  I'm guessing Starbucks wants to come into town (they have locations in the town to the east of us as well as to the south) because this a location is right on a major road. (It's actually right before where the highway officially ends.)  I'm sure it draws a good amount of business, which is what they want.  What business wouldn't.

The neighborhood has some concerns.  It's understandable.  While the soon to be Starbucks (and former bank) sits on a highway in a commercial zone, it abuts a residential zone.  As my house is residential and abuts commercial, I can tell you it's rarely fun.  There's bound to be more traffic, more noise and more pollution.  Who wants that?

The plus side, at least for me, is that the owner of the property is supporting a traffic light at the intersection where the Starbucks will sit.  That THRILLS me.  This location has needed a light for DECADES.  But for some reason the county wouldn't go for it.  (Too close to another traffic light?  I call BS.)  A traffic light would reduce accidents and as there is a bus stop on either side of the highway, it would make my life safer and better.  (Do you know how hard it is to get across that street at the end of the day?)  I am so happy with this news; I might actually buy a venti cafe mocha.  (But not when I am getting on the bus because that would be a real mess.)

The downsides really have less to do with Starbucks and more to do with people and the human condition.  There will be more traffic coming in and out of the place.  Understandable.  However, the people in those cars need to remember the rules of the road.  They need to pay attention to their surroundings as there will be people (some of them children) in the area.  As human beings we need to be alert to our surrounds, especially when we are behind the wheel.  This issue is not unique to Starbucks; it's a problem we have all over the place.  I'm too aware of it as I walk early in the morning (where people seem to think that stop signs are optional if there is no traffic and no one looking) and to and from more than one bus stop.  (Hint:  don't pull out in front of a bus!  If it's a school bus, no matter what side of the road you are on STOP!)  When you are behind the wheel of a vehicle:  PAY ATTENTION!

The second major issue:  trash.  I'm not talking about the dumpster that Starbucks will inevitably need and that will loudly be picked up by waste management early in the morning. (Remember I live on the edge of a commercial zone...trash is picked up LOUDLY at several establishments before the sun comes up OR after the sun goes down.)  I'm talking about litter.  I am sure Starbucks will have trash cans available for people to put their empty coffee cups, their wadded up used napkins, etc.  People need to use them.  The ground is NOT your trash can.  (I know I'm old, but I still remember the Keep America Beautiful campaign of the 1970s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0sxwGlTLWw)  It was a problem back then and it hasn't gotten any better.  WE need to be better.  WE have a responsibility to care for our planet.  We SHOULD keep America beautiful.  

For me, the cons of ANY business going into that space is not the business, but how the customers who go there act.  It's not about Starbucks...it's about being responsible human beings.  Let's try it.  PLEASE?