{"id":8130,"date":"2018-10-06T19:51:35","date_gmt":"2018-10-07T03:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernhowl\/?p=8130"},"modified":"2018-10-06T19:51:35","modified_gmt":"2018-10-07T03:51:35","slug":"small-town-transformations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/small-town-transformations\/","title":{"rendered":"Small-town transformations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rebecca Meyers | Lifestyle Editor<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some returning students may have noticed differences in Monmouth and Independence this fall. The neighborhood was busy making changes while the students were away. Over the summer, Western\u2019s town and its neighbor has gained and lost a few businesses &#8211; though more have been lost so far than gained. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Perhaps the most noticeable change is the one nearest to campus. Now gone is the familiar red Bobablastic truck on Main Street. The bubble tea selling truck, which sat across from Main Street Park, shut down some time after spring term ended and took with it the covered picnic table area. Lovers of bubble tea don\u2019t have to worry, however &#8211; DIY, a tea shop that opened last winter, has quickly become a popular place to buy all sorts of drinks, including bubble teas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Also lost is the Happy Dragon, the Cantonese restaurant in downtown Independence. The restaurant was once reviewed by Statesman Journal food critic Brooke Jackson-Glidden, who called their Peking duck a \u201cmust try\u201d. For those willing to take the drive, the family that owned the restaurant has moved to Portland and hopes to reopen there. For lovers of Chinese food, Monmouth fortunately still has Sing Fay\u2019s on the corner of Monmouth Avenue and Main Street. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Independence also lost another beloved eatery that previously sat on Main Street. The Three Legged Dog, an Irish restaurant and pub, had to permanently close its doors this summer due to lease issues and late rent, according to the Statesman Journal. The restaurant has always struggled with costs and ultimately had to cease operations, however it\u2019s brunch Bloody Mary bar will be missed by many.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">However, Monmouth gained a new business not far from Western. Mundo\u2019s Cafe officially opened for business a few weeks after the end of last spring term. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The area of Monmouth and Independence may have suffered some losses while students were away, but their removal will likely allow for other businesses to take shape. Once the excitement of the start of term settles, students will have a chance to take a look at how the town has evolved since their return. Both returning students and those who never left will have a chance to see what is next for Western\u2019s hometown in the coming months. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rebecca Meyers | Lifestyle Editor Some returning students may have noticed differences in Monmouth and Independence this fall. The neighborhood was busy making changes while the students were away. Over the summer, Western\u2019s town and its neighbor has gained and lost a few businesses &#8211; though more have been lost so far than gained. Perhaps [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1094,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"modified_by":"The Western Howl","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8130\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}