I was driving down Broadway the other day, sitting in traffic of course, and was reflecting on just how far the city of Tyler has come over the last 25 years. I drove past the building where Kids Depot used to be, I walked through the mall where there used to be an actual food court, Toll 49 was nothing but woods, Electric Cowboy was the place to be, and so much more. When I lived in Dallas, I swore every time I drove through Tyler to visit something new popped up.

That got me thinking, with this being a brand new year and all, what are some things I’d like to see Tyler have in the new year? 10 New Year's Wishes for Tyler I suppose? And I apologize in advance that the majority of these have to do with food.

1. Less Traffic/Better Roads
I don’t know how, or why, but it seems that the roads in Tyler just seem to get more and more backed up and difficult to navigate. Granted, the amount of unimpressive drivers on the roads don’t help. For instance – part of Broadway in front of Best Buy and that shopping center. I’ve almost died there numerous times due to that median and lack of consistencies on that road. And don’t even get me STARTED on the Chick Fil A line that spills onto the street. Okay just getting, that’s my next thing.

2. Another Chick Fil A…or Five.
Listen, we all love Chick Fil A. And those lines spilling out onto the Highways prove that. Two drive through locations and one in the mall is not near enough to handle the city of Tyler. We could use one closer to downtown, one over by UT Tyler, one in the shopping center off of Cumberland, and probably at least one more. There is no such thing as too many Chick Fil A’s.

3. More Live Music
Fact: East Texans love music. Lets have more. More festivals like Red Dirt BBQ & Music Fest? AM I RIGHT?!

4. Food Truck Park
This has been in the works for a hot minute, but it’d be nice to see it complete. An area where all of our favorite food trucks – including Say Cheese and Pokey O’s – can call home and we can indulge in the calorie killer that is a food truck heaven.

5. A Food Court at the Mall
Our food court used to be the bees knees. Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Sonic, Chinese, etc. It had just about everything. Then they took it out and now we have like, three dining options. Can we bring the Taco Bell back please?

6. Velvet Taco
If you’re a fan of Fuzzy’s or Torchys.. or just tacos in general, then you want one of these restaurants. Just trust me.

7. A Dog Park… with a Bar
I take my dog out to the Sunrise Paw Park about 5 days a week. No, it isn’t excessive, she’s hyper and if anyone in my apartment wants to sleep at night, she needs to run out all of her energy. Every single time I’m out there, either sitting on one of the benches or standing in a group chatting with dog owners, I always think to myself “Man, I need a beer,”. I mean seriously, it's genius.

8. Another Entertainment Venue
This kind of goes back to the whole, live music thing. Tyler needs a venue that can hold bigger and better music! Indoor, outdoor, who cares. East Texas could definitely benefit from it.

9. A Korean BBQ Restaurant
Tyler has so many restaurants. And so many of the same TYPE of restaurants. If you’ve never had Korean BBQ – you’re missing out. You pick out which type of meat you want and cook it on a small grill in front of your table. Its delicious.

10. Favor
When I lived in Dallas, this app was a lifesaver for me. You literally pay people to run favors for you. Hungry? Order any food from any restaurant and they’ll deliver it. Need groceries? Write out your list and they’ll go get it, send you the receipt, and you just pay them back! Need someone to pick up an expensive painting? Favor will do it. Tyler NEEDS this. Okay, maybe I just need it because I don’t like to leave my couch.

Live and love in Tyler!

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