Driving to the office the other day on my tediously long eight minute commute from the south end of Maple Valley to the north end where my office is located I noticed the sign is up on the new Fred Meyer going up in Four Corners.
First, I apologize, I know all of you who commute to Seattle and the Eastside hate me right now. My bad.
Second, I got excited at the thought of how close the grand opening of Fred Meyer is now.
Maple Valley Town Square is going to bring many of the things those of us who moved from urban areas out to the literal fringe of the urban growth boundary have missed.
My husband and I have lived in Maple Valley for nearly eight years. After growing up in Bellevue, living in Spokane, visiting family in Los Angeles, traveling to various parts of the western United States and living in Las Vegas for two and a half years, settling in Maple Valley is one of the best decisions we’ve made.
We knew, however, that we would be making some trade offs for the peace and quiet of life on the edge of civilization.
Like having plenty of restaurants to choose from when we want to eat out, or a movie theater close by, or a bowling alley, or a place to shop for clothes, or a Costco.
Did I mention restaurants? Oh. I did.
Moving on then.
Now, our neighbor to the west Covington, has filled in a number of the gaps during the past five years or so. And that’s wonderful.
Folks at Covington City Hall also think it’s wonderful. All the “retail leakage” that Maple Valley city staffers refer to when discussing the need for economic development now goes to downtown Covington.
Therefore, I must confess: I spend a lot of money in Covington.
Someone will have to dole out the punishment.
When my daughter Lyla was born in November 2009 I was ill-prepared in one area: newborn size clothes. She was smaller than we expected. Fred Meyer to the rescue for this sleep-deprived, first-time mommy. It’s cold around here when you’re a winter baby.
How nice it would have been to just zip over to a Fred Meyer in Four Corners, just five minutes from my house.
Yes, I know, first-world problem.
Still, having Fred Meyer so close will be convenient for myself and all the other parents around here, given that more than 30 percent of our population is under 18.
There’s plenty of other great stuff coming into Maple Valley Town Square. A couple of sit-down restaurants, a gelato shop, banks, a big MultiCare facility and… a Burger King. Well, you can’t win ’em all.
Still, with all this great new economic development, I know there are businesses residents want to see in Maple Valley.
It’s entirely possible the city could attract investment in a number of areas. Office space would be nice, maybe the kind of technology incubator thing I’ve been hearing about for nearly a decade, or someplace one of those big Eastside or Seattle tech companies could set up a satellite branch for all those folks who commute. Cough. Microsoft. Cough.
More restaurants would be great. With the addition of Gino’s Bistro catty-corner from Maple Valley Town Square as well as Hopjacks and Farelli’s Pizza the offerings are more diverse around here.
Still, who wouldn’t want a place to get a nice steak? Lately, I realized I have never tried a lobster roll — maybe I watch “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” too much on Food Network — but how awesome would it be to have a place that serves up the kind of food that could end up on Triple D.
It would also be nice to have a Whole Foods. In fact, I would do many, many legal activities for the amusement of others to get a Whole Foods, however we aren’t going to get one any time soon.
And by that, I mean in the next five to 10 years, according to the developers I’ve spoken to who have built in Covington and Maple Valley.
We’re not getting a Trader Joe’s, which doesn’t bother me at all, or a movie theater in that time frame either.
We don’t have enough people. Our city isn’t “urban” enough — neither is Covington, by the way — for any of those amenities.
This still-young city isn’t there yet. I hate to burst bubbles when I tell people on Facebook certain things just aren’t going to happen in a time frame they may find acceptable.
Trust me, I wish we had many of these great businesses nearby, but I also knew from the minute we decided to make an offer on a house out here that this quiet, friendly community with amazing schools would require compromise on our part.
It seemed worth it.
Plus, it gives those folks at Maple Valley City Hall a chance to seize an opportunity that has been discussed since before this newspaper began in the fall of 2005: to create an environment for economic development that could enhance the unique nature of this community.
With construction on Maple Valley Town Square nearing completion in the coming months it seems like this is an ideal time to build on that moment.
That kind of project can be a magnet for development.
And when more businesses arrive like the ones I think could realistically be built here then all those other awesome ones who have said, “Not for at least five more years,” will take notice. They’ll send their real estate people our here to scout locations.
They’ll take a new look at the city’s demographics, evaluate the income levels of the trade service area, then realize the potential and start making plans.
There is so much potential here in Maple Valley.
With continued thoughtful planning things will begin to fall into place.
It’s only a matter of time before residents of this city won’t have to accept the trade offs.
And I really hope that if we get anything, it’s a Whole Foods, they have these cookies I love and cheese pizza that I don’t mind drive 30 miles one way to get my hands on.
For now, though, all the great things coming this summer will be great and we’ll have more of those conveniences we left behind when we moved here.
