Chick-fil-A Opening in the Bay Area? (San Diego, Oakland: high income, to live in, groceries)

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Nineties Flava

WC is more upper middle class than upscale. The difference is that chains like BJ's, PF Chang's, etc. would actually be in the Midwestern equivalents of Piedmont and Atherton, and more than likely they'd be the main draw for outsiders. The upscale dining culture that exists in the Bay suburbia (Chez Panisse for example) does not really exist in the Midwest outside of Chicago and its suburbs. People are more complacent/satisfied with chains.

You're really splitting hairs here. Many of the people the eat, shop, and go out in WC come from the surrounding area. People from Danville, Alamo, and Lamorinda all come to WC. If they didn't it wouldn't have all the retail it does, especially the upscale retail. The fact is chains are popular in many areas of the Bay Area like everywhere else. Maybe you don't see that since Oakland doesn't really have a strong retail base but that's not really a good thing either, especially in CA where local cities depend on sales tax.

Also when did you live in the Midwest?

The fact that you don't think places like Pleasanton, Dublin, Antioch, Pittsburgh, Concord, etc..aren't filled with chains just shows how little you know other parts of the Bay Area. Dublin and San Ramon don't even have traditional downtowns, you think it's local stores making up the majority of all those strip malls? Again, what other significant retail is there in Pleasanton besides Stoneridge Mall? Or Sunvalley Mall in Concord? All of which are filled with chains.

Just look what's opened in WC in the last 15 years and how much of that was national chains.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by jade408

The town after that has about 600 people. And I think they have their own fast food place.

I just had to know. That town (Hemingway, SC) has 4 fast food places. Population of 500 people. The surrounding areas are trees and very small towns.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Nineties Flava

Yeah, you did.

"I don't feel the majority of people in Northern CA are foodies that all shop at local stores like some of you make it seem."

No I didn't, when someone claims something them they've straight out said it. With what some of you are saying that is what is "seems" like to ME.

Some of you are acting like, and actually said, our "consumer culture" in the Bay Area is so different and I don't think it is at all over most of the area.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by sav858

You're really splitting hairs here. Many of the people the eat, shop, and go out in WC come from the surrounding area. People from Danville, Alamo, and Lamorinda all come to WC. If they didn't it wouldn't have all the retail it does, especially the upscale retail. The fact is chains are popular in many areas of the Bay Area like everywhere else. Maybe you don't see that since Oakland doesn't really have a strong retail base but that's not really a good thing either, especially in CA where local cities depend on sales tax.

Also when did you live in the Midwest?

The fact that you don't think places like Pleasanton, Dublin, Antioch, Pittsburgh, Concord, etc..aren't filled with chains just shows how little you know other parts of the Bay Area. Dublin and San Ramon don't even have traditional downtowns, you think it's local stores making up the majority of all those strip malls? Again, what other significant retail is there in Pleasanton besides Stoneridge Mall? Or Sunvalley Mall in Concord? All of which are filled with chains.

Just look what's opened in WC in the last 15 years and how much of that was national chains.

Even the most chain heavy places in the Bay Area, have more local businesses than their equivalents in the Midwest and the South. When I lived in Myrtle Beach, there were literally 3 or 4 Chinese places in the entire 400 sq mile Grand Strand Region. There were 3 Japanese places. About 2 dozen local seafood places, and everything else was a chain restaurant. Each mall had a food court full of chains. Each strip mall had chains. The only places you could find non chains were on some of the beachfront roads, where there was a leftover crab shack or something. The entire time I lived there, there were about 6 restaurants we went to in the area that were not some sort of regional or national chain. Much worse than Dublin or Walnut Creek. In those places, even in the strip malls, there are always a couple of locally owned places. Whether it is asian food or a nail shop or mexican or something else. Even in Dublin, the land of the strip mall, some of the strips malls on Amador Valley and Dublin Blvd are mostly non-chain places.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by jade408

Dublin was about 1 fast food spot per 7000 people. Myrtle Beach is about 1 per 3500 people. My dads town (and its neighbors) are more like 1 per 1500. So that is still a much higher number of fast food places per person.

So a suburb, a resort town, and a small rural town. The only pattern I see is you're comparing vastly different types of areas.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by jade408

Even the most chain heavy places in the Bay Area, have more local businesses than their equivalents in the Midwest and the South. When I lived in Myrtle Beach,

TOURISTS.

Again, I'm not just comparing the Bay Area to the MIDWEST and SOUTH. There's more to this country than those places.

[sav858]

Also I'm curious how busy is the PF Changs in Palo Alto? I'd figure being so close to Atherton that many of it's residents would shop and dine there.

For the third time, I do think the Bay Area likely below the national average as far as fast food and possibly chains, but compared to the NATIONAL AVERAGE it's not that drastic. The Midwest and South don't represent the nation.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by sav858

The Midwest and South don't represent the nation.

Really? Considering the "flyover states" are basically the essence of the american heartland, I find that hard to believe. The Northeast isn't very representative of the country on the whole. And neither is the southwest.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by jade408

Really? Considering the "flyover states" are basically the essence of the american heartland, I find that hard to believe. The Northeast isn't very representative of the country on the whole. And neither is the southwest.

Does the national average of anything only include the Midwest and South?

[04kL4nD]

this Yelp argument is retarded

the number of people who use Yelp in Oakland is going to be way higher than a city like Omaha. I really shouldn't have to explain why