Comments on: Out with the (not so) old, in with the new

By: aw

aw — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 05:55:00 +0000

They are planning to open it up to a family owned company that wants to have a “bar & grill” type restaurant there. I think that would be fantastic.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 05:45:00 +0000

p.s.
Isn’t the building on the SW corner of Colorado & Myrtle owned by the city? If I’m not mistaken, it is there they are planning to build a parking garage. (Which, by the way, I’m SO against).

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 05:44:00 +0000

Did anyone see the quote of a previous poster here on this blog on the city’s website…www.cityofmonrovia.net? Interesting to know they are paying attention! I love that, it is a positive thing for the city to keep in touch.
With regard to this thread, which is dated, so unsure if anyone will actually read this post….some of those businesses I will miss and some I won’t (a personal thing). I DEFINITELY hope that we NEVER see Cheesecake Factories and Pottery Barns. I like that I can enjoy them in Pasadena, but live in a quaint town like we do.

By: jane

jane — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 00:33:00 +0000

See – but that’s what makes a horse race. I went there several times and hated it. Overpriced, lousy atmosphere…I didn’t like it so I didn’t go.

By: bruce

bruce — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 19:26:00 +0000

Jane,
You are very wrong. Frank and Joe’s was a great place with good food reasonably priced. The atmosphere was wonderful and the personal attention from the owners was unsurpassed. I have watched over the years as places have been forced out, Kettle Korn, Salt and Pepper Barbeque, Myrtle Ave Lumber and the list goes on and on (add more folks). It is amazing how money finds pockets as honest tax paying small businesses are ruined.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 05:12:00 +0000

Yes, it’s greed. The property owners want higher rents so the kick out existing tenants but no one comes in so it’s their loss. Also, the city has its cabal that will get all the lucrative deals while the hard-working entrepreneurs get the shaft.
By the way, unless the new Thai restaurant is part of the cabal, why spend so much time and money redoing the place when they will be closing in a couple of months anyway?

By: meandering

meandering — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 18:50:00 +0000

The businesses dying on Myrtle is part of the revised General Plan. It took a friend of mine a week to get a copy that she shared with me.
Myrtle Avenue is being downgraded in the plan from “thoroughfare” whose role has been to handle the majority of north/south traffic in Monrovia, to “feeder street” with minimal traffic capacity. This was accomplished with the new sidewalks and crosswalks done during the holidays.
This was a plotted and excuted plan to “dissuade” (the general plans words, not mine) traffic from Old Towne and direct it eventually to the Transit station project that is in the works. Yes, they purposely fixed it so no parking and tough traffic is forcing people out of Old Towne.
The bigger problem that no one knows of, and hasn’t been made public is the reports plan to move all of the north/south traffic to California Avenue that will result in “significant displacement of residences” to accomplish. In the General Plan meeting 2 weeks ago they talked about “friendly acquistion” of properties to accomplish this, using existing right of ways and BANNING parking on California to get the needed 2 lanes each way from Foothill down to Duarte Road. This will cause significant problems for residential parking all of those neighborhoods, not to mention the significant risk to school children at Wildrose Elementary, Clifton Middle School and Carden. Of course this is all buried in the written plan and not discussed openly with anyone that will be affected.
No one has asked the residents what we want. High Density retail and residential is definitely what we do not want. What we do want is low traffic and no distrurbances to existing residential neighborhoods.

By: rcjparry

rcjparry — Thu, 31 May 2007 00:20:00 +0000

One must ask, is this a happenstance thing (lots of leases coming due simultaneously), a sign of the economic cycle, or perhaps a sign of some structured, coordinated effort to raise rents across the board.

I love Cheesecake factory, but Myrtle Ave. is not the place for it. It would be bad for the other restaurants. Myrtle needs businesses that drive pedestrian traffic to other businesses (art galleries, book stores, etc.) and restaurants that add to thsoe businesses without sucking away traffic from all the others.

This will require some gentle management and clear thinking.

By: ka

ka — Tue, 29 May 2007 20:52:00 +0000

The hobby shop, just up from Mystic Sisters, is also closing. I’ve worked near Old Town for almost three years, and I will miss the eclectic feel as these stores all move. It seems like a very large number are moving in a very short time frame.

By: aw

aw — Tue, 29 May 2007 06:10:00 +0000

I agree, Sarah. That space hasn’t found it’s niche, or vice versa. I was surprised when another women’s clothing store went in there. I’d settle for a groovy, regular folks kinda café, kind of like Frank and Joe’s, but smaller. I liked their “regular guys” vibe.

One of the things that drew me to Monrovia was the friendly small-town feeling; the antithesis of snobby. I hope it stays that way.