A woman interviewed about the large shopping development going in at the 9-B/I-95 interchange said she was excited about not having to travel very far to go anywhere. The problem is that anywhere, or nowhere, is what's being built.
When I was taking Urban Planning courses in college, one of the books we used was called The Geography of Nowhere. The basic idea is that all development is the same, and it's nowhere special. That's what St. Johns is getting--it's own version of nowhere, just closer.
Some neighbors in the area were against Walmart. Most probably were for it. Some were excited to see which stores would be coming. That's silly. You know which stores will be there by looking at every other retail development in the area anchored by a Walmart or Target or Home Depot or Publix. It doesn't really matter, folks. You're not getting a Rolex store like in Ponte Vedra. No one is starting a new business just for you, and nothing high-end is coming to your interchange location, but it will be your own version of anywhere, so enjoy.
