I do wish there were places here to buy a suit. I do wish there were a couple of 5 star restaurants in this town. I'm sure Ed does too. I'm sure Art does too.
Demographics in this community are now such that isn't going to happen. We, mostly due to national economy disasters under Obama, have been one of the industrial towns to take massive hits in middle class wage earners.
Good families lost homes or sold them at a greatly reduced rate to go to greener pastures for jobs. Commercial development won't necessarily bring in jobs that will change the economic condition for wage earners.
You speak of Edwardsville but if you look closely, it is a bedroom community. Many of the people who live in those big homes don't work there. Jobs are held by college students and people who have to work for low wages.
Granite will only be revived if we can bring good union jobs back so people can afford to live in houses like those at Donna Lynne.
Bringing in a White Castle or Steak N Shake won't accomplish that.
No mayor will fix the aforementioned problems without major help from the county, state and federal politicians.