Downtown Melrose is a mess. Buildings have rotting wood trim, ripped and dirty awnings and many need paint jobs. There are businesses who have seen significant decline in sales. When people parrot how our “Victorian Downtown is envied by everyone”, all I can think of is The Emperor’s New Clothes. The Emperor was naked. Melrose used to have a charming and thriving downtown. Times have changed. With all the empty storefronts, mismanaged new development and the traffic jams caused by commuters cutting through our cIty, our city is losing its desirability and no one will be envious much longer. A Pot Shop would have really sealed the deal.

Sure would have sealed the deal. Now instead of a thriving business, we will have yet another empty storefront. Now instead of all those new customers coming in and patronizing the other businesses on main Street, we will have the same old loyal customers who just aren't enough to keep many of them open. They'll all be on route 99, and they'll bring those extra spending dollars into Malden and Saugus. And thank God we will be avoiding the tax revenue that a second pot shop would bring in. Lord knows we don't need it and can't use it.

Yes, avoiding a highly profitable and customer-attracting business into downtown where it could be a catalyst to help other businesses grow is definitely a smart, forward thinking move by the old-timer NIMBY crowd and aldermen.