Note: Stacy Mitchell is a researcher with the St. Paul, MN based Institute for Local Self-Reliance. She wrote an op-ed recently for the St. Paul Pioneer Press arguing against a proposed Home Depot in St. Paul. As Oshkosh may find itself in the near future having to decide whether to accept a big box retailer in town, Commentary decided to ask Stacy to respond to some questions. The questions and her responses appear below:
1. What is the Institute for Local Self-Reliance?
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance is a national nonprofit organization that provides research, analysis, and innovative policy solutions for building strong, sustainable local economies. Our New Rules Project (http://www.newrules.org) is founded on the premise that many of the public policies in place today undermine local economies and healthy communities. We believe it's time to change the rules. Our web site contains a searchable collection of innovative laws and model policies that can be viewed and downloaded by activists and policymakers.
Under the Retail section of the site, for instance, one can find examples of local ordinances adopted in numerous communities that bar large-scale retail stores, require a comprehensive economic review and approval process for all new development, and prohibit cookie-cutter chain stores. We publish a quarterly magazine, The New Rules, with in-depth articles on a variety of important issues
(http://www.newrules.org/journal/backissue.html), books such as The Home Town Advantage (http://www.newrules.org/journal/hta.htm), and several free electronic bulletins (http://www.newrules.org/misc/bulletins.htm).
2. You say that "quality of life" is St. Paul's "most important economic asset." What do you mean by that?
The reason people choose to live in St. Paul, buy homes, build new businesses, and otherwise invest themselves both personally and financially in the community is because of our quality of life. A large part of St. Paul's appeal is derived from its stable, walkable neighborhoods and large number of small, locally owned businesses. Economists are increasingly finding that what draws skilled workers, new entrepreneurs, and relocating businesses to a community is the overall quality of life. In particular, they're seeking cities and towns with a unique character, a strong sense of place, good housing within walking distance of local shops and other amenities, and pedestrian and public transit options.
3. Why do you think city planners and elected officials throughout the United States are so quick to let big box retail chains into their communities?
City officials often take developers at their word. They assume that a new "big box" store will generate new jobs and tax revenue, and boost the community's overall retail sales and economic vitality. Dozens of studies, however, have found that big box stores tend to destroy about as many jobs and as much tax revenue as they create. This is because retail spending in a given market is a relatively fixed pie. Adding a massive amount of new retail space will invariably cause dozens of existing businesses to lose sales and either downsize or close altogether. The resulting job and property/sales tax losses often equal and sometimes outweigh the gains created by a new large-scale chain store.
On top of this, there are significant secondary economic impacts that occur when a big box chain replaces locally owned businesses. Local stores not only keep profits in the local economy, but they support a variety of other local businesses, such as accountants, printers, and banks. Chain stores centralize all of these functions at their head offices and keep local spending to a minimum -- meaning that their are fewer local jobs available for a variety of goods and services providers.
Unfortunately, I think most local officials are largely unaware of the full economic and fiscal impact of big box stores. The assumption tends to be that any development is good for the local economy.
4. If a citizen opposes the introduction of a Home Depot or other big box chain into his or her community, what are some steps they can take to prevent it?
Losing locally owned businesses to national chains is not inevitable. In hundreds of communities, citizens have organized and defeated big box development projects. Many are now implementing zoning policies that permanently prohibit large-scale chain stores.
The first thing to do is to review your town's planning and zoning rules (this information is available through city hall). In many cases, a Home Depot or other large retail project will require some type of public review, site re-zoning, or special permit. This means local officials must formally approve the project.
To persuade them to say no, citizens must 1) educate them on the impacts of such a development and 2) convince them that a large percentage of the community opposes the store.
Good sources of information include a book we recently published, The Home Town Advantage: How to Defend Your Main Street Against Chain Stores and Why It Matters (http://www.newrules.org/journal/hta.htm); our bimonthly electronic newsletter on local retail (http://www.newrules.org/hta/index.htm); and a variety of resources provided by Sprawl-Busters (http://www.sprawl-busters.com/), an organization that helps communities fight superstores.
Convincing local officials that the community strongly opposes the project can be accomplished through petitions, letters to the editor, lawn signs, phone calls to officials, etc. Attending and speaking out at city council or planning board meetings on the project is absolutely essential. Consider dividing up issues among several opponents (i.e., one person will speak on traffic impact, one on economic impact, etc.) There are countless potential allies in this fight: small business owners, historic preservationists, environmental groups and others concerned about sprawl, those who live near the proposed site, neighborhood and community organizations, members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (which opposes big box stores because they are non-union), etc.
The most important thing is to continue your organizing and educating efforts beyond the the particular development project at issue---even if you lose. Protecting your community from future big box encroachment depends on having strong zoning policies. For examples of such policies, see the Retail section of http://www.NewRules.org. In may take years to implement new local ordinances -- and often the election of a new city council --- but it's well worth the effort in the long-run.