Ever since the last "Subway's moving in!" scare, I've meant to get an opinion from the man who represents big landlords around here. You can't miss all the Cushman & Wakefield signs around town, and on just about every one is John Troughten's name.

No one I know wants another fast-food joint here. Starbucks is just about enough. But though Subway may not sell the kind of food you eat, those who run the company seem to have a brain. "You don't see Subways closing up," says John.

Subway's interest in the Point, he says, is in fact a good sign. "They're long-term players." They were the first, for example, to believe in the El Sobrante location at the end of El Portel Drive. "It did very well, and there's more going up around it."

Leave the sandwiches. Take the optimism.