I'm no fan of big box developments. Over time, I've come to loathe their impact on the urban landscape. Like the malls that came before them, they encourage a car-based existence that makes no room for any other mode of transportation (have you tried walking to your local Wal-Mart recently?) Worse, they essentially pave over the majority of our cities with nary a thought toward what this does to our overall quality of life.
The Los Angeles Times recently ran a piece called Up Against the Mall. Staff Writer Julie Tamaki outlined the clash of old and new retail forms, and what it could mean for similar developments elsewhere. Although this is but one fight, the implications for all of us are infinitely portable. As such, this article is a good place to start.
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Arthur and I moved away from the city to get away from the malls and big box stores. It seems they are following us though, as we've just found out that a WalMart is being built in our fair town. [Sigh] And all the people who say they like the character of a small town will flock to the behemouth to save $1.49 on some mass-produced piece of crap, and wonder why the vendor on Main street is no longer in business.
They're the same people who whine and moan about "all the trucks on the highway" without realizing that we're inundated with trucks because it's the only way to support the just-in-time manufacturing and delivery-based infrastructure that makes behemoths like Wal-Mart possible.
My message to those too simple-minded to understand the concept is thus reduced to one easy-to-swallow sentence: you sat in traffic today because you just had to have the $1.29 can of Pringles.
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