New developments on olive in u. city

by Alara Stewart Editor

After the long awaited construction of Costco on Olive Blvd. many people in U. City and nearby municipalities find it extremely convenient to shop there. But what most people don’t know is that there are new developments in the works right across the street from the new Costco.

The city has been planning these developments since 2018 and U. City is now seeing its progress. The new establishments that are being constructed will be called the Markets @ Olive. The businesses are as follows: Raising Canes, Chase Bank, Chipotle, Aspen Dental, AT&T, Five Guys, Jersey Mike’s, Starbucks, Maple Street Biscuit, ChickFil-A, First Watch and Panera Bread decades. Despite the positive outcomes, there are certainly some downsides to this project.

The QuikTrip, which many have been waiting for, also recently opened April 13th.

Bwayen Smotherson, 3rd Ward Councilman, says that everything should be completed either the end of this year or beginning of 2024. He expresses his enthusiasm for the new businesses as they will hopefully increase the city’s tax revenue.

The term “clean up” could be used to describe what the developments are doing to the area; however, what this also describes is gentrification of the area. This is seen as a good or bad thing in some people’s eyes as it does eliminate some of the businesses that weren’t thriving but it also means tearing down heritage- and community.

There’s also the additional environmental issue that this project disregards. University City seems to be becoming more and more industrialized. With this new construction the city could have easily used one of the huge lots as a space to implement plant matter to the area. Despite its location being near a highway, a park or even a large garden would have brightened up the area, providing the children in the neighborhood another green space while also working to keep U. City an environmentally sound city.

In the beginning of the play, Ra’Mya Golden, junior, performs her role Addaperle, The Good Witch of the North. “I was talking to Dorothy about having to go see The Wiz,” Golden said. “In the play, she didn’t know who he was so had to explain and sing the song.”