When I read “Dismal Downtown” I was happy to see someone wrote exactly what I have been thinking for years. I have lived in West Windsor for 28 years and before that I lived in Plainsboro. The progress in Plainsboro puts our town to shame.
I can only imagine a realtor driving a potential buyer around town, boasting about our school system and how convenient the train station is for commuting. What does she say when she drives through the “center of town” and there is nothing but boarded up, abandoned buildings, many of which have been like that for years?
I would think that many grocery stores would love to come to this town. The Acme shopping center should be turned into a place where we could have a nice grocery store, a coffee shop, and perhaps a little deli or restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Why do we have to drive to East Windsor to rent a movie or to Princeton for ice cream? Do we really need another bank?
While our elected officials argue over everything under the sun, towns like Plainsboro have been developing nice areas for everyone to enjoy. The other end of town is just as bad. It has been over 10 years that we have been looking at the empty lot across from Princeton Oaks. For years they have been pushing around dirt where a CVS is supposed to be built, while in Lawrence they are shopping at a CVS that was built in a few months.
I agree that we should be able to bike around town and many of us do. Unfortunately, there are not sidewalks that connect to all the places we would like to go. It is about time we look at these areas that make our town look shabby, and do something soon to make improvements that we can all enjoy, so we can be proud to say we live in West Windsor.
Janet Roman
Princeton Oaks
