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(that took me 4 tries to post that, btw.) Finally broke it into 2 chunks, and that took 2 more tries.

Did I miss any over the last ~15 years?

On the 'win' side, there's Pandls, TJ Aliotas, Upper Crust Pizza & Bruegers and Starbucks as successes.

So .. the point is .. each restaurant we've had that failed, did so due to not providing consumers what they wanted. You can't name a restaurant that has failed after providing good food, service, and selection that people wanted because "residents just wouldn't support it."

Would you suggest Villagers give restaurants a pass on bad service, for example, just to "support" it?

To take that line of thinking further, it can be applied to all businesses on SS. If it doesn't appeal to residents, it won't be "supported." If they fail, is it because "villagers just won't buy it" .. Or is it just the market, working the way markets work? Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door. Sell stuff people want, make some profit, and you'll stay in business.

That's nothing I would have censored. But I don't think you can point to "unsupportive villagers" for each diner's demise.

It's more accurate to say that villagers (eventually) stopped supporting restaurant XYZ because of food, service, or price issues. Of course, others closed due to external forces.

Bucky Bairdos - Didn't the owner move to another state? I suppose if he'd made huge dough selling ice cream, he might not have moved, perhaps, but I'd chalk that closure up to external forces.

Heinemann's - Made it 56 years. Decided not to renew their lease because (as the JS reported) the building was old and needed repairs, competition from Bayshore, and they thought "The Bay" was going to happen and wipe out their parking. Not sure if any of those are valid, but I think they were turning a buck. All of their diners closed within 1-2 years anyhow.

Ciao Cafe - Don't know why this closed. Didn't do a lot of business. IIRC, it was food quality and service issues.

Great Harvest - Wasn't a diner, but had food I suppose. Got out of the retail side due to staffing issues.

Right now we have two on SS that aren't doing great. Berkeleys and What's Poppin. Last week, I received dozens of comments about why those two were not thriving. Service has been problematic at both, as well as food quality and selection.

(cont)

One final thought......So I am perfectly clear.... The City Market, or any other well known eatery, would be fantastic for WFB. However, I have lived here for 21 years now and seen two Silver Spring makeovers. Despite a slow moving government apparatus, the job has been completed twice. Failure on Silver Spring does not lie with the Village Hall. It is with its people. Everyone wants Silver Spring to look like a Norman Rockwell New England painting , but unfortunately no one wants to buy it! This dilema can be summed up in the words of an old Rastafarian who was quoted as saying " Everyone want to go to heaven, but nobody want to die." Think about it.

a). I DID NOT call you a communist. I accused you of censorship. I used the analogy of Pravda, the old Soviet run newspaper that printed only state approved copy. Please settle down Kev, no one called you a Marxist. B.) the copy I wrote was about 150 words. It was there for several hours and then magically disappeared...I saw it with my own eyes. c) the Metalman can, and does apologize frequently...just ask my wife. I apologize for jumping the gun, but what was I to think especially since my main message was critical of WFB residents who have not supported restaurants in the past? City Market is great, but will fail if they are depending on these residents(alone) to make their venture profitable.

Metalman304 seems to be just arguing for the sake of arguement. There would be nothing wrong with a City Market in Whitefish Bay, especially since we need to fill in those empty spaces.

Leaner - I'm not running against Rep. Pasch for about a dozen reasons. No desire, plus I am not a Republican, nor Democrat, which makes me an Independent. Not too many of those in partisan elected office.

Ted - Indeed, when the JS flipped over to this new blog platform, they took about 10 steps backward. With the old system, bloggers used to have the ability to moderate/delete comments, now cannot, plus the new comment system is just plain screwy.

Since 'communist' is such an absurd accusation in the 21st century -- it's a bit like being called a 'Whig' or a 'Leveller' -- I'd wear it ironically.

I too find your blog very informative -- thanks.

But do you have any input into the configuration of the comments function? Your JS overseers ought to be told that it's a very primitive apparatus in 2009.

I've had that happen too.

So, super, the NOW sites lose someone's comment, and I get called a communist. I'm guessing a retraction is not forthcoming, as metalman is probably not the apologetic type.

Ah, the joys of blogging.