June 15, 2006
SEEMS LIKE JUST LAST YEAR THEY WOULDN'T DRINK COORS (via Brandon Heathcotte):
Wal-Mart: The giant people love to hate (Corinne Purtill, Jun. 14, 2006, The Arizona Republic)
On a recent evening in Ahwatukee Foothills, about 100 people gathered in a park to discuss what to do about an unwelcome would-be newcomer.Just across the street from where the world's largest retailer wants to build its first Wal-Mart in Ahwatukee (and well beyond its 3,800th nationwide) residents cheered their emcee's rallying cry: "We do not want to see Wal-Mart in the Ahwatukee Foothills or anywhere else in this community," Lani Kuban said.
Ahwatukee's battle is just the latest in a wave of clashes nationwide against the blue-vested behemoth that sold more than $312 billion in goods last year.
It's hip to hate Wal-Mart these days. The reasons are complex.
No, it's just the hipness--fashionable Leftwing causes seldom depend on reason.
MORE:
Wal-Mart, housing pitched for Avondale Mall (DAVID SIMPSON, 06/15/06, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Wal-Mart and DeKalb officials unveiled Wednesday night a proposal to replace the vacant Avondale Mall with a Wal-Mart Supercenter and 66 housing units.Posted by Orrin Judd at June 15, 2006 8:04 AMThe residential development would be a cluster of four-story buildings designed to look like townhomes and called "Avondale Brownstones." The units would have one to three bedrooms priced from around $170,000 to around $350,000. Twenty percent would be "work-force housing" designed to be affordable for workers such as police officers and teachers.
Early reaction was mixed, ranging from complaints about the size of the store — more than 182,000 square feet — to optimism that the store would bring jobs and the housing would help revitalize the Memorial Drive corridor in central DeKalb.
Not hip, the reasons are racism and classism.
Posted by: Buttercup at June 15, 2006 10:08 AMHip fashionable Leftwing causes depend on the masses doing what their superiors tell them to do, and liking it if they know what's good for them.
Since we quit getting the Urinal and Constipation, I wasn't aware of these changes in that decrepit area. Ooh, back in the day, it used to be so nice...but everything went downhill and got very scary. Our family doesn't live there anymore, finally chased away by daylight home break-ins and syringes in the yard (someone really didn't want to leave the house they built in 1950.) So now, the area is finally revitalizing somewhat? A good thing, because Memorial Drive (from there , south) is not a road one wants to take with the doors unlocked and the windows down.
Avondale Mall had emptied , and this plan seems to be good use of the property-clever to make use of it for infill housing and retail. The area could really use the Walmart, which offers both good price points and convenience, plus there is a good-sized population within walking distance. The bus runs by, as well. The problems with the size simply befuddle me-um, there was (is?) an indoor Mall there...which has the bigger footprint?