What do you enjoy or admire about Merchantville? What's fun, entertaining, enlightening, or inspiring? Which shops do you frequent? Professional services? Restaurants?
Positive comments only for this thread, please!
M.
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26 comments:
The Merchantville Diner is a great place for breakfast - they make great omlettes and they're inexpensive to boot!
New York strip steaks from Philly Fruit. Not cheap but very, very good. Indulge once in a while.
Fresh rolls from the bins are very good too.
This will start to sound like a compulsive over eaters thread, but I'll add to the food list:)
I think all our eateries are great. I especially like the half moon cafe and the Merchantville Diner.
And don't forget Aunt Charlotte's for desert. :)
I also think our town is full of very intelligent and wonderful people. Our people are our strongest asset and best resource.
I love walking downtown with the family on Saturdays. The trees shade us in the summer and dazzle us in the fall. We always stop in at the library to pick up books and DVDs, then have a slice at Sal's (or a tuna grinder and fries), then of course get a treat at Aunt Charlotte's (try a dark chocolate, chocolate caramel). We might pick up our clothes at the dry cleaner, pick up milk and rolls at Philly Fruit, or pick up an Rx at CVS. Every couple of months we get haircuts at the Clip Joint. We know everyone... This is our hometown!
My husband and I love the Merchantville Diner, Philly Fruit, Earthtones, The Country Cottage, The Dark Room, Aunt Charlottes and so many more.
I grew up in this town and am proud to see it grow and flourish. I hope it continues for my daughter's children to someday see.
This is truly a wonderful place to live. We are both honored to live in Merchantville!
Carol Wallis
As someone who moved here in the last five years I can tell you what attracts newcomers: the residential quality and the small scale of the downtown. We looked in Moorestown, Haddonfield and Collingswood any of which has nice features and is more convenient for us.
None had the small scale that made Merchantville so attractive. It's like stepping back in time.
i love having a hometown that feels like a hometown.
i love having a walkable town.
i love that until you've lived in a house for 25 years you identify your home to others by the original owners name.
i love that we all have a choice of schools and churches.
i love having well cared for parks, playgrounds and trails.
i love knowing that the bob hanna walked 12 blocks through a 2 foot snowstorm to make sure his market was open for all of us.
i love knowing that a group of residents saw the need to revitalize a deteriorated downtown 20 years ago and form a task force to get the ball rolling.
i love it that third generation family businesses like wirths and oakfords are still going strong after 85 years.
i love that other parents and neighbors know and care about your kids and look out for them like you do theirs.
i love the unselfishness of those who give so much of their time to coach our kids so we can have community based baseball, softball and basketball programs.
i love that generous residents volunteer so we can continue traditions and events like the tree lighting, christmas parade, birthday celebration and easter egg hunt.
i love that our fervor has prevented size from undermining our independence.
most of all, i love that our town leaders have been smart, proactive and innovative enough to make sure that all the things i love about merchantville will still be here for my children, grandchildren and great-great grandchildren to love as well.
I can't believe no one has mentioned my long time favorite, Vincent's on Park Ave! Their Tarantini Panzarotti are the best and most unique local food -- my friends from PA, VA, etc. never leave town without having at least one. They also carry Boost, the Riverside hangover-curing favorite.
Buzzy's on the corner of Park and Cove also has some great Sicilian pizza (and is conveniently walkable from my house). They're much better than any national chain and they, too carry Boost.
Finally, Grand China can feed my wife and myself for under $12, and we still have enough leftovers for the next day's lunch.
"i love knowing that a group of residents saw the need to revitalize a deteriorated downtown 20 years ago and form a task force to get the ball rolling"
Twenty years ago? There was no redevelopment statute then and eminent domain was limited to taking private land for purely public projects. You may mean 2 (two) years ago.
It was about 30 years ago that the beautiful Potter Hall was torn down to build the ultra-ugly Rite Aid. Surely you don't mean that.
There is a god has the facts right honest john. The Merchantville Task Force, which sought to reverse the decline of the town’s downtown, was founded in 1989. Then Merchantville Main Street was formed in 1995. If interested you can find more out about both groups and their accomplishments from our Historic Society.
What happened to Potters Hall was well before my time but the good news is that it won't ever happen again thanks to a Town Government that established the Historic Preservation Commission a couple of years ago.
I've just deleted 5 comments that were inappropriate for this thread, which is for discussing positive aspects of life in our borough. The deleted posts were a combination of sarcastic comments and complaints about those comments. In the words of my mother (and probably yours), "if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything."
Many other threads on this blog encourage discussion about some of the difficult challenges facing our borough. If you want to contribute to those interchanges, please consider offering constructive ideas, even if you can't resist a little sarcastic wit from time to time. Thanks.
M.
Simply living somewhere where you are able to walk into town is a treat in and of itself.
The Merchantville Diner is our favorite place to get a bite to eat in town.
It is a shame that "Taste Cafe" does not do a better business than it does. The place was completely renovated when it was opened; however, the choices made on decor might not have been the best choice for a town like ours. It is a little "cold" - (just an opinion).
I use the Merchantville cleaners as well. Nice service.
Aunt Charlotte's is a jewel. It is always decorated impeccably and is a joy to visit year round. Plus you can weigh yourself there. Yikes!
Are there really 3 pharmacies in a town this small. That's a lot of prescriptions.
We've enjoyed going to the Collins House as well - just not as often as the Diner.
The Fruit Market is nice as an option as well and is convenient.
Not that the other discussions are not valid/important, but it is nice to read some positives comments on this blog for a change.
I do like our town and hope its future is bright.
Sam
But to correct tiag's math--
1995 was 10 years ago. 1989 was 16 years ago.
Main Street is pretty well defunct now but did some good work in its day. The Task Force was mainly alot of talk.
The Design District Committee was well after Potters Hall and has been replaced by the rather new (just a year old) HPC. The HPC should soon be working on the survey of the town that it's statute requires--that should be a very worthwhile project and will head off the problems (lack of info, etc.) that the PB had when trying (unsucessfully, imo) to deal with the downtown historic district.
Another little gem is that new Tea Room.
Let's just say going there was the better half's idea - and boy it was fun!
Not too fru-fru;
Lot's of "Manly" choices.
(Bet they don't have THAT in Springfield!)
The blatant political content of the boro newsletter is disturbing. We all pay for that newsletter and it is wrong for the newsletter to carry one opinion to the exclusion of others.
If the newsletter is going to start reporting current events instead of reporting on cultural or commuity events and schedules, then it wil need to change to balanced reporting.
As examples of bias I point out the lack of reporting on any opposition to TCE (it doesn't exist as far as the newsletter is concerned); the failure to report about the proposed project until after it was approved by boro council; the inaccurate drawings published about TCE (they were out of scale; the inaccurate reporting of the vote count in the recent council elections.
The newsletter should go back to being content neutral.
If Mrs. Brennan would like to publish a separate newsletter, as a private enterprise and not publicly funded, she is welcome to do so and be as opinionated as she wishes.
It is the fact of the newsletter being publicly funded that causes me to speak out. I have no objection whatsoever to private citizens expressing their opinions in print.
To be HONEST,JOHN -
Couldn't you have found a more appropriate thread in which to vent your spleen?
If you hadn't noticed, MERCHANTVILLE THE GEM is a happy place!
There are not alot of threads available. It seems to fit better here than anywhere.
Any criticism, however reasoned and gentle, is met with vicious attacks. What is the matter with the boro that we can't have a discussion? What are you protecting?
I love walking through town and admiring the beautiful architecture in the old homes. It's a special treat to take a walk after dark and spot the stained glass windows lit up.
The BEST hoagies in South Jersey are at M&M Deli on Maple Ave in the west end of town. Light on the lettuce, big on the meat and cheese. A meal in itself.
Captain Jim
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