Posted by MV_Resident007, a resident of the Waverly Park neighborhood, on Dec 14, 2007 at 7:40 pm

I applaud the City Council's efforts to prevent a 'big box' store like Home Depot from coming to San Antonio shopping center. I found it interesting that this story was next to the one on the Community School of Music and Arts (who have their new building just across the street from Sears). It would be a step in the wrong direction to put a big ugly Home Depot there. The store is a warehouse style shop which would not fit in the area at all. The San Antonio Center is more a place for families to shop for clothes and household goods.

Posted by Klaus, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Dec 15, 2007 at 7:30 am

Have you forgotten that big box stores are good for revenue, taxes and jobs. Yes there are day workers (great they are people too and need a job). I think that some people are stuck on old values and really need to get into new values.

Posted by Mike, a resident of another community, on Dec 18, 2007 at 10:28 am

Bet this decision makes EPA happy; it's one less threat to revenue generation from their own Home Depot.

I think this is a good decision by the Mt. View City Council; they're looking at retail mix, and demeanor of the site as benchmarks for appropriate action.

Notice that one of the things in Mt. View's favor is that they *have* permitted big box retail in strategic locations - to a degree that has generated impressive revenue. This is *exactly* what gives Mt. View the leverage they have with retail developers - in a way that help Mt. View, instead of having to go through the outsized machinations that Palo Alto has been forced into, due to years of listening to anti-development forces here that have crippled our forward efforts to develop good retail mix. (all that said, there is a lot to be desired in the Castro St. corridor - it's a mess!)