Do you resent all the Johnson County-fication? Like, the area near the mall now has zero character. It seems like there's just a never ending new development of strip malls with chain stores. Does that bum you out or do you appreciate the developments. I mean, everytime I go back a bunch more old houses with charm east of campus have been torn down to make room for more crappy cheap apartments.
^^ Typical JoCo resident post. Believe it or not, but this kind of development is not exclusive to Overland Park, Olathe, and Shawnee. There are other cities in the US that have shopping centers with several chain stores/restaurants near one another. Also, a lot of Manhattan's recent growth and attraction of those national chains has to do with the fact we eclipsed the 50K mark. That's usually a magic number of sorts when it comes to the Best Buys, Bed Bath & Beyonds, etc. opening up in a new location.
To answer your questions though, the big chains are good for Manhattan because they provide a lot of jobs. Also, the apartment boom of 5 years ago may have been overkill. Word on the street is that the supply in the rental market is far exceeding the demand.