Stacy Mitchell, researcher and author of Big Box Swindle, discusses the origins of the big box store, the way they're subsidized by communities and how they are undercutting the American middle class.
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Building after massive building now sit empty in towns across America. Yours is up next.
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The vast majority of suburban big box stores are not going to be retrofitted. They’re simply too far from anything of note and littered in unproductive locations across the country. But there may be a few exceptions...
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Frequently hailed as a shining example of a successful big box retrofit, the McAllen Main Library is a fantastic space. But is it a realistic model for retrofits across the country?
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In Austin, MN an old K-Mart was transformed into a popular museum—a big box reuse success! Or was it?
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We treat big box stores as mines to be filled up and exhausted. Once depleted, we move on to design and build the next bigger mine, abandoning the former.
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We want you to contribute to a comprehensive, crowdsourced database that will examine tax productivity comparing big box stores like Walmart with compact, downtown buildings. We’re working closely with our friends at Urban3 on this to build a downloadable resource and map the data when we're done.
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Strong Towns kicks off Big Box Week, looking at the promises cities make and the risks they take when a new big box store goes in.
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No, your town doesn't need more parking. It probably needs less.
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Not only do small downtown shops provide a higher rate of tax revenue than big box stores; they're also a much lower risk investment for the community.
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A basic look at financial productivity applied to the Iron Range community of Grand Rapids.
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What is it about the built environment of a historic downtown that makes it a good home for the small independent business but not as appealing to the national retailers?
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Notoriously bemoaned, Trader Joe's parking lots are known for their small size, tight spots & limited maneuvering areas. But that's actually a much better model than the wasted space that most grocery stores have in their parking lots.
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Walmart builds cheap buildings in order to sell Americans cheap stuff. This model is harming small towns across America.
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We’re told that Black Friday is the “biggest shopping day of the year”—yet parking lots across the country tell a different story. Last year, I set out to explore #BlackFridayParking at commercial shopping centers across Tulsa to see for myself.
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Strong Towns thinking has helped us become more precise in our input, and more effective in our education. Some of us as individuals have become members in order to show our appreciation, and to add to the dialog. It has been one of our best investments in helping to shape the city we want.
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If you can create a business that provides citizens what they want – the ability to quickly and easily acquire a lot of stuff – the combined power of massive centralized government and populist appeal will be mobilized to subsidize your operation, punish your competitors through regulation and taxation and build the infrastructure needed to make you wealthy.
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The key problem with Walmart is that it systematically depends on the poverty of communities.
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The big box development model is designed to be transitory.
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Should we be worried when Walmart's complex and fragile business model shows signs of strain?
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