In the latest chapter in The Washington Post’s fascination with Charlottesville and the Downtown Mall, tomorrow’s edition will contain a piece, already available online, that’s a veritable paean to the beloved heart of our city. After lauding city planners for their vision back in 1976 (but without mentioning the years it took for the Mall to catch on with businesses and residents), writer Ben Chapman goes on to be amazed by the absence of a Starbucks and describes the general atmosphere as an "urban Eden of oak trees, flower boxes and fountains." Chapman ends the piece by marveling that at the peak of summer the Mall is "not an oven." Um, Ben, were you on the Mall last Monday and Tuesday during the heat wave?
What, no Starbucks? The Washington Post (yes, again!) is dizzy over the Downtown Mall’s homegrown businesses.
