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Flattered by other media approaching him for his writing skills, Don McCallister comes out as a City Paper columnist.

By James D. McCallister

EDITOR’S NOTE: As concerned as we have been about Five Points Confidential writer York “Budd” Durden’s mental condition, it pains but doesn’t surprise us to report that he will no longer be writing the column. Dispatched on special assignment to cover the recent Widespread Panic concert at the Township Auditorium, he was last seen shirtless, unshod, and inhaling from a large blue balloon, declaiming, “Babylon is bullshit, man. I’m outta here.” We wish Durden well on his “journey of discovery;” it is with equal aplomb that we welcome James D. McCallister, longtime owner of Loose Lucy’s, and a local writer of absolutely minimal renown.

“Hey, that steam shovel you ordered finally arrived!”

The fellow merchant, jovial but sardonic, passed by as I witnessed what appeared to be an apocalyptic scenario playing out on the basin-end of Saluda Avenue last week. Machines tore into the ground outside my shop for the…um, well, I’ve lost count. In the background, even larger heavy equipment turned the former Kenny’s building into a heap of smoking rubble. Voices shouted and enormous booms rolled over the neighborhood, cutting through the otherwise calm and sunny springtime afternoon. I half expected to see Mad Max walking out of the dust in his stinky leathers, his sawed-off shotgun resting on one bruised shoulder.

In other words, it looked like the end of the world out there.

But lest you accuse me of complaining about either project, let me disabuse my readership of such knee-jerk notions.

To wit: The work in the street is the absolutely most critical of the entire streetscaping project with regard to my business. The installation of the new storm drains—finally!—will presumably carry the inevitable deluges of summer farther downstream into Maxcy Gregg Park and not into my shop.

Presumably.

“We never promised anything about stormwater removal,” the City says, even though that’s the number one issue here at ground zero in one of Columbia’s numerous and notorious flood zones. But I’m willing to give this effort the benefit of the doubt for now. Bigger pipes are bound to help—right? (Ask me again in September.)

And as for the new building to go up across the way? There are a couple of ways to think about it. As I told that McClatchy rag last week, I shudder to consider that once the streetscaping efforts are done—assuming that, one of these days, they will be—now we’re going to have a major construction project going on day-in, day-out for another year or more right across the street, disrupting traffic, causing noise pollution, et cetera.

Redevelopment such as the new building can be an economic boon to an area like Five Points, though, which aside from all the recent attention and activity, has long been Columbia’s red-headed stepchild in the modern era of the Vista revitalization. So in the long-view theory, a shining new condo tower (with a parking deck!) is a good idea.

In the words of Barry Goldwater, however, the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Liberty, in this case, is a euphemism for the flavor and character of Five Points, which according to our own ad campaign, is the regional alternative to the homogeneous nature of every shopping center and suburban commercial strip scattered throughout the land. This “village within the city” only seems that way because every corner isn’t filled with Abercrombies and Hollisters and other soul-deadening corporate presences. (Office Depot, though, man I dig that place. What can I tell you, I’m hooked on the rewards program.)

But is the lack of national chains a good thing with regard to the general economic health of the neighborhood?

Yes, yes, many people come here on a Saturday afternoon because of the ostensible eclecticism of the retailers here—but how many more consumers would we have if Five Points did in fact have more national retailers, stores to which people seem drawn by the drumbeat of advertising and their own lack of imaginations?

The new condo building will only have one space for a retailer besides the anchors of Walgreen’s and yet another financial institution. However, the grand, master plan for the neighborhood calls for quite a few new retail spaces in various locales. Who, then, will fill these spaces? Ever more local entrepreneurs? Or the corporations who have the deep pockets? The answers are years away.

The situation is worrisome to those of us who wish Five Points to retain its flavor, its character, and its charm. But who are we to say that such attributes are what is best for the general area as a whole?

Reagan stole one of his signature lines from JFK: “A rising tide floats all boats” (which sounds more ominous than optimistic to those of us in the flood zone). So according to that notion, if the area as a whole grows economically, then we all benefit—but perhaps at a cost that goes beyond the lure of lucre: The ultimate price may be the very soul of Five Points itself—our sense of identity—if we aren’t judicious in our future development.