Getting Better All the Time - but There's Still Room for Improvement

I enjoy living here in Rocket City, but I am sometimes frustrated at the things we lack here. I grew up in a fairly small town, and Rocket City is certainly larger than Cookeville. However, I spent two years in Tucson which is much larger than Rocket City.

There are several stores and restaurants that I really miss from Tucson. Plus, we have our favorite places in Atlanta and Orlando that I always wish were closer. Thanks to BRAC we have a large number of new people moving to our city in the next few years, and many of them are used to the shopping/dining/recreation options found in larger cities. That means good news for Rocket City - more and more businesses are realizing that Rocket City is a great place to be.

A new area called Bridge Street opened recently. So far there are already many new places: P F Changs, Dolce, Anthropologie, Kate Spade, and others. Still to come are Ulta and the Apple Store and many more. And of course, there's the new Westin, which will also have condos.

Other areas of town are also growning. Our end of town is almost perfect now. Fresh Market, Five Guys Burgers, Nothing But Noodles, Super Target are all here. Plus great local places. We barely ever need to leave the area.

I am especially excited today, because they have finally officially announced that we will be getting a Mellow Mushroom in August. Rumors have circulated for years that we would get one, but this is the first confirmation that we really are.

So Rocket City is really improving, but there are still a few things that we need.

*Sweet Tomatoes - A great soup and salad place. They also have pasta and muffins. We used to go there at least once a week in Tucson. Now we only go when we're in Atlanta or Orlando.

*Cost Plus World Market - There are some in Birmingham but we need one here, too. A great source for food, wine, and other items from around the world.

*Whole Foods - We stock up on stuff at Whole Foods every time we're near one, but I'd love to be able to do more of our shopping there.

*Trader Joe's - A much smaller grocery, specializing in their own house brand. They have a great selection of some hard to find ingredients, and they're the only place in the Southeast (other than Cheesecake Factory) that has my favorite Paradise Tropical Tea. They have finally opened around Atlanta. I know they would do really well in Rocket City.

*Sephora - The best place for cosmetics. Doubtful that we'll get one any time soon, since we're getting an Ulta. At least they have stores in Birmingham and Nashville now, but again I would love to be able to run by there whenever I wanted - you never know when you'll have a perfume emergency!

*Caribou Coffee - I'm not usually a coffee fan, but I love Caribou. They don't over roast their beans like SOME places (I'm looking at you, Starbucks) and they have a great variety of espresso drinks. Including the best one ever, the Campfire Mocha.

*MINI dealer - You can buy almost any car here, but not a MINI. I keep hoping our BMW dealer will add MINIs, but no luck yet. If we want a Porsche we can run across town to get one, but for our MINI Cooper we'll have to go to Nashville or Atlanta. Which is silly, because they are hugely popular here.

*Macys - I rarely shop in department stores now, but I do like Macys. And now that the evil Belk closed our Parisian stores we do have space for a Macys.

I would love to think that we'd eventually get places like Tiffany and Co., In-n-Out Burger, or Cheesecake Factory, but I don't think that's too realistic. Still, I think that the other places I listed would do really well in Rocket City. Especially since many of our new residents are already addicted to one or more of them.