The Miramar Town Center, a $350 million project planned for central Miramar, will feature homes, shops, a performing arts center, library, college and yes, a Starbucks. Is a shopping complex really complete without Akeelah & the Bee cardboard cups, banana nut muffins, Grande Passion Tea's and Tall Java Chip Frappachino's? Starbucks is no longer a choice for consumers it is a habit and the same is true for developers.

In today's Miami Herald, the debate about private enterprise versus the public American institution makes us wonder if it is okay to accept the Starbucks obsession at the expense of "mom and pop" and their coffee shop. In a piece titled, "Trouble Brewing for Broward coffee shop entrepreneur," Pembroke Pines Coffee Shop Owner, Laura Carbonnell explains her ambition to bring the same concept to Miramar.

''Put my store next to a Starbucks, and on any given night, my store would win,'' said Carbonell, 46, who lives in Miramar. ``We're a family community. We have live music and a pet-friendly patio. There's no comparison.''

The developers of the complex, the Rockefeller Group, a real estate investment group is in the process of filling the Miramar vacancies and common sense says they will choose Starbucks. Carbonnell has the family feel with WiFi and live music, but are we willing to accept her coffee in lieu of a Starbucks Breakfast Blend?