First off, I thought all the pornography freaks were just getting their jollies on the Internet…you mean someone actually drives to a store for this garbage? Apparently so…brick buildings aren’t cheap.
Second, is this a new building for the old bookstore, or an expansion…I don’t know. Another thing I don’t know is the name of the one on Main Street. Everyone always referred to it as “the Mandan bookstore,” and THAT is the problem.
What do people think of when they think of Mandan businesses? The “bookstore” and the “tuck-a-bucks,” ie the Silver Dollar and Tree City bars. There are other businesses on the strip, of course, but that just doesn’t quite seem like Mandan for some reason because you don’t actually drive “into” town. So Mandan needs a perception update.
Don’t get me wrong – there are other big construction projects happening in Mandan, although they all seem to be along the Strip. There’s the new Harley shop, built a few years ago. Dusty and Annette have just opened their grand new Open Road Honda building, and it’s amazing. There’s a new McDonald’s greasing up on the intersection of Memorial Highway and 3rd. Riverwood RV has expanded into an enormous facility on the west end of the strip. Wheels, Wings, and Hobbies has relocated from a side road to Memorial Highway and built enormous indoor and outdoor tracks for their customers to race on. Things are happening. Venture into town and you find the Pizza Ranch, which is a fantastic restaurant – but do you ever hear much about it?
So why do I have to bring this up? Because I don’t think Mandan’s getting a fair shake. I’m not saying it’s easy to get the word out…but I’m saying it’s ESSENTIAL to get the word out. Don’t let people continue to associate the name Mandan with pornography stores and stripper bars. Let people know what’s going on!
Look, people have no problem driving to the bars in Mandan. I doubt they’d have any problem driving to any GOOD businesses there too, if properly encouraged. Take dining for example. How many times have you wanted to go out to eat, then sat there trying to sort through the local restaurants in your head, forgetting most of them? Mandan falls through that crack a lot, and unless they get REALLY aggressive about it, they’re just going to continue being a little town across the river from an ever-growing Bismarck.
On an aside…Mandan residents pay the highest property taxes in North Dakota, far higher than many residents in states on all three sides of ND. Why? There isn’t a sufficient revenue from businesses, for one. Bring them in, and let them share the tax burden with the citizens.