Proposed McDonalds for Mack Avenue Solves One Problem, But Can Create Others

I don't want a . I don't want the traffic and I don't want to see a 24-hour business open in our community, albeit on the Detroit side.

In addition to that, the main reason I don't want to see a McDonalds constructed on Mack Avneue is that I don’t like fast food. I don’t like the additives, the sodium, the high fat content of the great majority of what these establishments serve. I really don’t like that they market to children, who grow up believing that a Whopper and fries is an all-American dinner.

I have been fighting the fast-food war in my home for years--pretty much since our son was old enough to recognize the golden arches and request Chicken McNuggets. I have to admit that for a number of years I gave in, allowing him a few fries and nuggets as long as he drank milk with them. I never gave a second thought about the cute little toy that gave him about 30 minutes of fun before finding its way to the floor of the backseat, and ultimately into the trash.

Then I thought about that darned toy. Hard plastic--something that will never breakdown and will, instead, live in a landfill or float in the South Pacific for years and years to come before it is possibly eaten by a bird, which, in turn, will die. Fast-food restaurants create these toys for one reason alone--to lure in children.

But more than the toys and the greasy food, I am against a McDonalds because it steals our unique look and feel. Of course we have and joints, and . These are chain restaurants, but are certainly not in the same stratosphere as McDonalds. Big fast-food restaurants fill the world, providing quick and (largely) unhealthy meals. I want to hold on to Grosse Pointe's culture of supporting mom-and-pop restuarants. I don't want the Pointes to look just like other communities that have given in to the mega-chain spread.

There is a logistic reason against a high-traffic business on Mack near Moran Road as well. I’ve read what . The “M” streets such as Moran are filled with homes that have young children.

"We are already the superhighway of Grosse Pointe . . . and certainly don't need any more traffic," Moran resident Sara Lolar wrote on the Grosse Pointe Patch Facebook page.

This is a big problem and one that should be addressed by the regardless whether there is a McDonalds at the end of the street or not.

But in the end, we don’t have a say, do we? , not Grosse Pointe, where we have ordinances against fast food restaurants. The bottom line is that the McDonalds will likely be built. Engineers will claim they have it configured so that traffic will not back up onto Mack. Of course it will back up onto Mack–probably from 3:30 until 7 p.m. with the after school traffic and “dinner” crowd, and maybe even in the morning as McDonald's officials have identified as a busy time of day.

It is tempting to want anything to dealership location, to get rid of the weeds and make it look nice. Let's hope it's something that can add real value to our community, not another generic and all-too-popular chain.