THE opening of our Mitchell Highway McDonald's and other businesses at a major development in the city's week this week is a good news story for the city and its under-serviced west.
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For one thing, it puts the full stop on what has been a long-running construction site on a prominent corner.
It's also another employment option for those who live in West Bathurst, Windradyne and Llanarth - and the hundreds of new residents set to join that side of the city as the Windy 1100 development takes shape out on the urban fringe.
A Windradyne parent who previously drove their teen to the Bathurst CBD McDonald's for a shift will no doubt welcome the much quicker trip down Bradwardine Road - as will their petrol budget.
With the Village Bakehouse on Durham Street set to open in the coming weeks, Bathurst will be able to tick off two developments that - like Taco Bell on Stewart Street - really did seem to take a long time to get to the finish line.
So where should an ambitious city's eyes turn next?
Perhaps William Street.
Disability support organisation Vivability seems keen to get on with its plans for a food and drink hub in the old ambulance station near the highway and Bathurst Regional Council remains bullish that it has potentially found a company with the expertise and interest to transform the old TAFE building and the sprawling site that houses it.
"They have done their homework and understand what council's - and the community's - attachment to that site is," council's director of environmental, planning and building services Neil Southorn said of the mystery group earlier this year.
It's easy to be negative about the Bathurst CBD and the empty shops that pockmark it, but we should also be willing to look at the full story in the centre of town.
That full story includes big investments such as Taco Bell or the new Village Bakehouse, new businesses such as a tattoo operation and a cafe along George Street or a convenience store in William Street and big ideas shimmering in the distance such as the TAFE building transformation or the multi-storey Howick Street integrated medical centre.
Business-people continue to take a punt on this city and that, presumably, is because they like what they see: a growing population, a diverse economy that isn't reliant on one sector, a good location.
We'll no doubt be seeing a few more doors open this year. Watch this space.
