On The Silly Side by Jimmy Del Ponte

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

I conducted my own little poll of what stores people would like to see go into the new Assembly Row area.

Here are some suggestions I received. Bass Pro Shop, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Chico’s “chic” clothing store for women. Wegmans food store (I’m not familiar with it) and a Stein Mart department store, along with Mary Lou’s Coffee and  Newbury Comics. An Alamo Drafthouse was a choice for a theatre. A friend threw out the idea of an Irish pub but I think we have plenty of those already. A re-vamped Blarney Stone Pub would work though. Then of course we would get Jim Plunkett to perform there. Speaking of music, how about a Guitar Center to cater to all the aspiring musicians that we have in the area? The Darden family of restaurants have some offerings such as Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Capital Grille, and Bahama Breeze. Don’t you hate seeing those delicious TV commercials advertising restaurants that aren’t anywhere near us? How about a CiCis Pizza, Long John Silver’s or Arby’s?

I think we could use a large toy store along the lines of Toys R Us and Kaybee. One store was suggested that I have to disagree with. I don’t want to mention the name, but I found the store to be too “granola-crunchy” for me. People can go to the one in Fresh Pond if they want. Send me a personal email and I’ll tell you the store.

A friend of mine came up with this cool idea. “A covered bandstand with an atrium so local artists, bands and other talent can play outside and people could sit around and watch and listen. There could be food carts and vendors so people could sit around and enjoy the entertainment.” Somerville has so much art and music to offer.”

Wouldn’t it be cool to have a little area dedicated to Somerville’s past nostalgic businesses? It could be called “The  Old Somerville Food Court.” There could smaller versions of Dapper Dan’s, Del’s Pizza, Kay and Chips, Mamma Lisa’s, Speedy Pizza, Frascati’s, The Venice Café  and maybe a Joe Izzy’s. (lol!) (Sorry…but only old ‘Villens will remember Joe Izzy’s. Send me a private email and I will give you a short explanation of what kind of store it was.)

Someone felt that we should put a casino into the new Assembly Row area. Don’t we have enough things to waste our hard earned money on?  Just the lure of the State lottery alone (especially with two daily numbers drawings) is a big enough temptation without having a casino in the area to suck us in. Look at how much we spend just on gas alone? I threw too much money down that rat hole known as gambling already thank you.

Being able to get to the new Assembly Row area via the T is exciting. And when the Green Line extensions are done, we will be able to save money on gas by using convenient public transportation to get just about anyplace we want. Take that Exxon, Hess and Mobil!

It’s going to be fun watching the new Assembly Row emerge and rise into the Boston skyline, and even more fun checking out all the new stores.