Business Question

As Tacoma grows, everything is on the up and up. But I do occasionally think of other areas in Tacoma that seem to have potential but are not seemingly on the way to greatness, goodness, or fairness. South Tacoma Way (practically all of it) is such a busy road but it just looks like Aurora Ave. South. Between the ugly power lines, miles of parking lots, and buildings built a quarter mile back (because of the parking lots in front), the road looks like a depressing wasteland. It looks like the place where bad asphalt goes to die. But with so much traffic, you would think that there would be some commercial value there. What does it take to get some big time commercial development going that will not only bring in business, but will also get people excited to get back to parts of the city that many would most likely want to forget? Is that a job function of the city or is that something that happens randomly when a private commercial developer decides that they want to set up shop? Or is it a partnership between both? If someone could explain this, I would be most appreciative. It seems like there is still a lot of potential that is not being realized in our community. I have an easy time believing that if nice, clean, safe, practical, and inviting commercial spaces were built, people would take some time, get off the road and do some good ‘ol money spending. We Americans are world leaders in blowing cash, so why not do it in a presently dumpy area that everyone (except for maybe prostitutes and drug dealers) wants cleaned up? And, people could do their shopping instead of sitting in traffic during rush hour. With only one mall in Tacoma and virtually no shopping district in downtown Tacoma, I think there is enough space and demand to set up something that adds value and brings some different businesses and unique shopping elements that the city does not currently have at present. With so much space, I think development could be unique, fun, interesting and still provide value to the community; especially the community that has had to be it’s patient neighbor for all of these years.