Stanwood - College Bound?

A while back rumor came down that the State of Washington was looking to place a new four-year university in North Snohomish County. The idea was that the new school would service North Snohomish County (north of Everett), Skagit County and Island County. So in the infinite wisdom of the state, they decided to place the school in Everett, a location which meets none of the goals. (Which is fine with me.)
Putting the poor site choice aside, I would like to talk more specifically about my community, the community of Stanwood. I would like to discuss the movement, by many people from the greater Stanwood area, to have this college placed in the Stanwood vicinity, and the continued movement, now that the state college site has been selected, to attract a private college or university to the Stanwood area.
The thing that really staggers my imagination is the fact that most of the university proponents are the same people who fought blood sweat and tears to keep Wal-Mart out of Stanwood a few years back. It just seems ironic that someone would battle against the big box monster and then turn around and try to attract something that will inevitably attract the monster. If a four-year college, with dorms and the works comes to town, they are going to need somewhere to shop and at this time Stanwood does not have the stores that college students will be wanting. It is like building a casino and the entire time saying that it will not attract gamblers.
Get a clue! You cannot have one without the other.

What Have You Done to My Stanwood

I am involved with the government in the once small town of Stanwood, Washington. Stanwood was a fabulous place to grow up and go to school and just hang out. A place that seemed boring when I was in high school and yet we never lacked for things to do. From scaring girls at a local cemetery to just hanging out at the beach, we were never really bored.
Unfortunately over the past twenty years, many outsiders have discovered what a wonderful place Stanwood is to live. The problem that I have with people moving into Stanwood from the "big city" or where ever, is that they won't just leave the town the way it was. They are attracted by the "small-town" feeling; the lack of traffic, crime, gangs, etc. The issue becomes that once they have moved into our small rural farming town, these immigrants soon begin missing all of the amenities of the mess that they left behind. Soon the "newbies" fight to get the "big-box" stores and all that come with them and we are soon left with a city that isn't remotely what attracted the new folks in the first place.
If the "pit-of-despair" that you left is so terrible, then why recreate it in my town? Go away! Go back to your one-stop-shopping and your parallel parking. Go back to fast-paced living and take those that came with you.