Vision of Tomorrow?

Our correspondent Joslyn Jane wrote last week of some of the similarities and differences between Monrovia and Claremont. The Foothill Cities blog picked up on that and questioned Jane's take on things in Monrovia.

Monrovia's downtown renovations are a little farther along than Claremont's, and we couldn't help noticing Saturday's post on Living in Monrovia. Author Amanda Wray observed that a number of small boutique businesses had closed shop (or moved, as one of the comments to the post noted). Wray remarked in her post:

I know that with improvements come eventual price hikes, because the neighborhood is nicer and more desirable, but I hope, and pray, that we won't become like Old Town Pasadena, and lose too many more of our mom-and-pop stores.

We hope that Village West doesn't lead to the same sort of unintended consequences in the original Claremont Village. One ought to tread lightly in these sorts of redevelopment; progress isn't always forward.