If you have driven down Highway 12 recently, I am sure you have seen the newest addition to the city: another Starbucks. There are currently three Starbucks locations within the city limits of Starkville.

There is one in the Colvard Student Union, one inside of Kroger and one across the street from Strange Brew. There are also four other coffee shops within the city.

With all of these locations in mind, why do we need a fourth Starbucks? Is there truly a demand for this, or are they letting the highest bidder come in to occupy new spaces?

Starkville could benefit from nearly anything else going in that space. I sit back and wonder, did anyone ever ask a citizen what they would like to see come to Starkville next? Would anyone say, “Oh, I think it’d be great to add the city’s fourth Starbucks on Highway 12.” I just do not think anyone would.

Starkville has many Mexican restaurants along with a few Asian restaurants, those being Chinese, Indian and Thai, along with multiple fast-food restaurants in town and on campus. One thing we do not have is a chain steakhouse.

Places such as LongHorn Steakhouse, Outback Steakhouse and Logan’s fall into this category. Yes, we already have steakhouses in Starkville. However, these steakhouses are not the most affordable for Starkville residents to eat at as often when compared to larger chain steakhouses.

Chain steakhouses have specials and lunch menus that people could order from when dining in. This is not the case for many of the restaurants that are currently in Starkville.

There could also be an addition of homestyle restaurants. Georgia Blue falls under this category, especially when considering their Blue Plate specials.

An additional restaurant that served homestyle foods would be good for families that do not want to cook but still want that style of food, or for students that cannot cook meals like that for themselves.

Like many other things within the city, there seems to be an inclination to create a city that caters solely to college students and not the people that live here year-round. Another Starbucks might not be a big problem to many, but it does not add to a city that already has three locations with only a 10-minute drive between them.