If I had a time machine

So what would you do if you had a time machine? Something very noble or great in scope, such as preventing a war or tragedy, or would you go back to your past and rectify something you regret? As for me, what would I do? I would go back in time to visit meetings where bad decisions were made! Such as the meeting where Dell computer engineers thought that a slanted USB port would be a very cool thing...(not when you are bent over on the floor on your knees, blindly trying to shove your jump drive into the computer.) Or the meeting where the project planners of the Highway 77 construction/expansion decided to complete it in one whole phase rather than in sections (because waiting 15-25 minutes at every major Brownsville intersection simply trying to get across the highway from one side of town to the other is my preferred way to spend my time. Oh, and I just love the feeling of concrete barricades being 1-2 ft away from both sides of my car as I travel down a one-lane highway with some tailgater pushing me to do 70mph in a 55 mph zone.) I can already imagine myself going into some conference room going..."Nooooooooo, your making a bad decision!".

But the reality is, I don't have a time machine and until someone invents a working flux capacitor, I will continue to avoid crossing into North Brownsville until it is very necessary to do so and I will continue to seek computer monitors with the USB port on the side. However, beyond my sarcasm and humor, I am pretty serious about the way the highway construction being executed. Asides its inconvenience, some aspects of the construction are dangerous and the handling of the traffic flow could be better managed. (And you think with all this going on, people would talk less on their cell phones while driving!)

But the reality is, Brownsville is growing (have you seen the way houses are mushrooming all over the perimeters of the city?), and growth doesn't come without its pains. So while our leaders and developers concern themselves with the growth of our city, this Brownsville resident has one thing she wants to say: "Don't forget the rest of Brownsville!"

We need more restaurants, shopping and entertainment options in the older parts of town because being stalled at one traffic light for 15 minutes to go see a movie or to eat a tasty Italian meal is getting plain ridiculous. I miss the days when Brownsville had three movie theatres and had two malls. Options are what make consumers happy! So please get creative and think outside the box my Brownsville leaders and developers! And by thinking creatively, think of different approaches to stimulating economic development other than building one strip mall after another. Because while development is great, I would hate to see a mom and pop café get bulldozed to make room for a McDonald’s. Such cities like San Antonio, Austin, St. Petersburg have benefited and capitalized on the renovation and redevelopment of the older sections of their city, by empowering local businesses and focusing on their to local heritage and culture, all which has brought a sense of pride and identity to their residents. Brownsville is an incredibly unique and special city and should be treated as such during this economic and population boom. So I encourage everyone, and not just our leaders and developers to come back to our roots and to think of our older sections of town just as much as they think about the newer ones.