There is more development coming to the downtown Green Bay area. And while I’m always pretty wary about development, there are some neat concepts that stand a good chance at giving a lot of people a nice place to live.

But, you don’t come here for serene visions of the future. We’re here to solve problems. And the problem (and the question I’m pulling from this problem) is…

What are all of these new residents going to eat?

Because the truth right now is that downtown Green Bay is a food desert. No. Don’t point to that Save A Lot down the street that looks as if it were crossed with a haunted house and a tool shed. No, don’t point to the Walnut Kwik Trip which has been plagued so badly by criminals and drug abusers that it had to start closing early (story HERE). Finally (and with more positive energy), we do have some cool places to eat downtown, but few can afford to eat out every night.

And the location needs to be selected carefully, because downtown grocery stores aren’t always the easiest to travel to. We all wish we could have a market right next door or on our first floor (and some neighborhoods do) but it’s not always possible.

The solution would actually be a mixed use project. And like, real mixed use. Not just more apartments with a room for a couple of vending machines.

Downtown and Broadway are growing. And for the better. With some time before these developments we have a chance to make sure everything we need is already in place by the date the first residents move in.