So what will happen here in the village during the upcoming calendar year? Here are my first fifteen prognostications that ventured out of my head. Take them for what they are worth. I’m sure I’ll spew out a few more thoughts in the upcoming months!

  1. At least one additional chain store will make it on to the historic downtown mall. Since hot cheese in a bucket is there why can’t we get more.
  2. 3rd Street will get bricked over, but the crime level outside of R2 won’t be affected.
  3. Village elders will argue over the temporary mall crossing for the rest of the year leaving 4th Street as is.
  4. The village will make another deal with the Crapshaw so that he can further his ownership of the music, land, and restaurant biz near the mall. The village will feel good that they will get $1/year so that things sound better (except of course for additional noise complaints from local residents).
  5. Two stores that have been on the historic mall for many moons will go the way of the dinosaur.
  6. The city will spend big bucks to improve the ‘follow the three presidents’ signs that lead tourists to the mall. Maybe the elders have learned that most people have no clue that three presidents have lived in this area. I hear TJ’s still in office…right?
  7. Repairs won’t start on Belmont Bridge despite the fact that it isn’t stable. This is because the underside was covered with wood so chunks won’t ‘Big Dig’ on to the cars that park below.
  8. The bus system won’t get changed for the better (if only the elders would listen to the kevin…or even the devil). Seems better to add complexity to a broken system. Nothing better than chaos.
  9. The population won’t make it over 40k in the 2008 census. Elders will tweak things and find residents.
  10. The one-way 4th Street underpass will piss someone off so much as a train is trundling along blocking all crossings that they will remove the signs before proceeding under the tracks.
  11. The local stations won’t start broadcasting in high def (other than NBC29 which did modernize a few years ago). The local stations are already warning us that we only have 414 days to update our technology. Nothing like living in the 80’s.
  12. UVA will have another mediocre year of football, but the Groh(n) boys will continue to take home the bucks. Does 8-5 sound about right, along with a loss in the Spare Tire Bowl?
  13. One of the smart local kids will finally get around to using a paintball gun on the musical marshmallow.
  14. Cameras for the historic downtown mall will get ordered after heated debate, but they will be stolen before they get turned on.
  15. Someone who has been here a long, long time will hit the wagon trail and migrate out of town.

What do you readers think?