With the revitalization of Southside Marketplace, the newly opened McHenry Row complex, not to mention countless bars and restaurants throughout the two neighborhoods, Locust Point and Federal Hill residents have no use for Port Covington. It’s just that simple. Fifteen years ago, Port Covington was a great idea because at the time of it’s conception, many of its residents bought their groceries at Shoppers Food on Fort Avenue or travelled to Brooklyn Park or Glen Burnie. Nowadays, when it comes to grocery shopping, dining out, or going to the nearest bar, everything that you need is on Fort Avenue or Key Highway. What Port Covington needs is not what City Hall probably wants to hear but what the heck, I’ll say it anyway. Focus on the retail needs of the customers of the following communities: Cherry Hill, Westport, Mount Winans, Brooklyn, and Curtis Bay. We do not have a full service shopping center in any of our neighborhoods for various reasons and yet no one has given credit to our residents who have successfully kept Wal-Mart alive when it should have died right along with Sam’s Club. Yes, residents from Federal Hill and Locust Point shop at Wal-Mart but not in high numbers because many of its residents are not raising families and do not need to buy household items in large quantities. Currently, we have to drive to Locust Point, Glen Burnie, Linthicum, or Brooklyn Park for a name brand grocery store such as Giant, Shoppers, Food Lion, or Shop-Rite. For those residents who rely on the bus to do their grocery shopping, the bus that stops at the front door in Port Covington does not directly connect to Shoppers in Southside Marketplace. For the empty lots in the center of the site, a bank or MECU credit union would be great, a full-service insurance agency,etc. There is no reason why a grocery store could not survive. City Hall has a unique opportunity to do something great for the geographically disconnected District 10 communities by providing a grocery store and adding at least 100 jobs to the city and keep the tens of thousands of dollars we give to Anne Arundel County’s economy each year.