The Montrose, Akron, Ohio variation of what happens when a Taco Bell or similar low grade chain restaurant appears on empty farmland, immediately followed by dozens of additional chain restaurants and poorly planned strip malls. The result is a traffic clusterfuck on top of a social black hole, on top of an environmental disaster, known in any other place as suburban sprawl.
In every city I visit, there is at least one stretch of highway full of big box stores and crappy chain restaurants--a sure sign that the Montrose Effect has taken place.
by Rubber J July 26, 2010