You may know the guy by those irritating ads where the child is telling you to go buy a car from his dad’s dealership. I understand getting the kids involved, but come on. There’s gotta be a better way. And there probably is, and you can’t blame guy for trying to make it work. Now he’s got an idea for a Fresh Air mall at Florin and Franklin in South Sacramento.

Well, I read the Bee article about the new mall they’re working on over by Paul Blanco’s Chevrolet dealership with interest. (Why did they call it a mall, anyway?)

The strip of Florin Road from I-5 (or should I say “The 5”?) to Florin Mall is pretty disturbing to the middle class consumer, even if he or she has business there. The road is poorly maintained, and most businesses (if they’re not big chains) look shabby and just not very inviting to new customers. I’ve even overheard colleagues say they would never shop in that area because of safety concerns, and I have to agree that if I didn’t have to sometimes go there, I wouldn’t.

On a recent Saturday, we were driving by Blanco’s car shop, and I couldn’t help but crane my neck around to see where this new Fresh Air mall was going to be. I couldn’t see a thing. Granted, we were on Florin (I wasn’t driving) but I saw nothing, nada, zip. If this thing is going to be a “hit” then don’t you think hanging some sort of banner or something letting folks know what’s coming soon would be a good idea? Perhaps it’s too early yet.

I’m really crossing my fingers for Paul and his co-sponsors (are there any?). After all, if it fails, it’ll just be another empty overgrown lot in a neighborhood that badly needs a “Field of Dreams.”