Soviet Union or New York City?

I am always curious and often find it instructive to know what other New Yorkers think or experience of Roosevelt Island.
New York food blogger Nosh reviews the state of Roosevelt Island's food scene with this brutal post.

Nowhere else in New York City is more underserved than Roosevelt Island, and because RIOC operates all of its mixed-use buildings as state-run facilities, potential new businesses must submit to agonizingly lengthy approval processes that entail requests for proposals, open bidding, documentation of customer base and proof of financial and stakeholder gain to the island before they are even allowed to occupy a shop. And worse, if the previous tenant owed fees or back-rent, the arrears become the responsibilty of the new business. The upshot is that when a restaurant shuts down on Roosevelt Island, a new one does not spring up to take its place.

Nosh states, as related by blogger Eater, that Roosevelt Islanders have an almost "Soviet set of food choices" although Nosh did appreciate the diner Trellis.

I ate a quite respectable, if slightly charred portobello and cheese challah open-face ($7.45) and drank a decent cup of coffee ($0.90). Full disclosure: had my meal been terrible, I would have not written about it, for fear of causing further damage to the fragile Roosevelt Island dining ecosystem. Fortunately, it was solid, hearty diner fare. Nothing more. And sadly, that qualifies it as the best restaurant on Roosevelt Island.

In a similar vein, a reader from Roosevelt Island comments on this post regarding Island retail services and presents a clear choice for the future of Roosevelt Island - give up the small town mentality and recognize that Roosevelt Island is a NYC neighborhood next to the upper east side of Manhattan and receive the retail services many want or remain in a small town fantasy and continue accepting current level of service. This reader writes:

If the stores are worth patronizing, they will be patronized. If they follow the "Roosevelt Island Rule" they will be the worst of their type and people will go elsewhere. Could any of the independently-owned stores even exist anyplace else? Contrary to public opionion, we are no longer isolated. We are one short subway stop from the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The situation here won't improve until people give up the small-town fantasy and recognize that this is a neighborhood in New York City. It's pathethic that it's probably the only neighborhood in New York that is thrilled to have a Starbucks and a Duane Reade moving in. It is Roosevelt Island, however, and I won't be surprised it our Duane Reade is the only one in the entire system without a Chase ATM.

If the stores were good enough, people would even hop on the F train and take it one stop to Roosevelt Island to shop. If we had a restaurant people wanted to go to, they would come from other neighborhoods. It's nothing extraordinary for people to shop outside their own immediate neighborhood. People travel from one borough to another all the time, but a trip to Roosevelt Island is still seen as a visit to an exotic locale. When we somehow overcome the misconception that we are an isolated "village" outside of New York City, we will attract appropriate retail. This is something that RIOC should be working to achieve.

Is that truly the choice available to Roosevelt Island? I have always thought there could be a balance between attracting more amenities/services to Roosevelt Island and maintaining a slightly less hectic street scene but the price a community must pay for more services and conveniences is greater population density and visitor traffic. Gothamist has a post about how this process is being played out on Smith Street in Brooklyn and links to a recent NY Times article on subject.