On 6/10/03 3:11 AM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> My point is simple, but hard and fast: North Mpls. needs to preserve, expand, > and utilize fully, the few Big Box Retail locations that are already allowed. Why? You've stated that Broadway/Lyndale is one of the few places zoned for big box retail, so it CAN go there, but that doesn't address whether big box retail SHOULD go there. If I want to, I CAN pull a hammer out of my toolbox and whack myself upside the head with it. Does that mean that I should? I have to admit that before Jon Gorder suggested a Mercado Central-style operation on the northside, I didn't know a lot about it. Since then, I've done some looking around and learned that it opened in 1999 with about two dozen or so businesses. Now, despite the years of recession, it's up to 49 and there's a waiting list for more. The types of retailers found range from artisans to books and music to clothing and jewelry, fresh foods, restaurants, pretty much anything you can think of and would find in a retailer like a Target, though I'm afraid they don't seem to have any stores offering farm chemicals or machinery parts. Sorry, Dyna. But my point is this: look at the Sears site in south Minneapolis that's been abandoned for years, northeasters are probably familiar with the empty shell that was Apache Plaza on the outskirts of our neighborhoods and I'm sure that there were plenty who were wondering what would happen at the Quarry if Fleming hadn't found a buyer for their Rainbow store there. Now Target on West Broadway is closing. Does anyone really believe that these big boxes are truly worth the headaches they'll bring to the surrounding neighborhoods when they ultimately close? And they will close eventually. Whether it's a business downturn or the building becomes obsolete or the parent corporation goes under, it's gonna happen. And dozens or hundreds of people will lose their jobs and thousands will lose their primary shopping destination. Just like what will happen soon at West Broadway and Lyndale. Now contrast that with this: http://www.windndc.org/ndc/mercado.html There isn't just one place to buy clothes and jewelry, there's nine of them. Instead of just one place to buy groceries, there's six of them. And so on. So if one fails, it'll suck, but the whole community isn't going to be stuck up the creek and it's a heck of a lot easier to find someone to take over one little shop and try something new than a whole 83,000 square foot building. Here's something else to think about. Mercado Central has 49 different businesses. Even if each one only employs 2-3 people, collectively, it's employing the same number or more than one big box retailer. And even more importantly, instead of the vast majority of the profits being sent off to some corporate tower far away from the neighborhoods, never to be seen again, this model has several dozen owners profiting who are and building wealth that are far more likely to invest back in those neighborhoods. Hasn't it been a common refrain that what's really killing the northside is an utter lack of opportunities for people to work their way from low-income to at least an average income? What's more likely to bring that - a big box where a hundred or so people can bust their humps for eight bucks an hour or a chance for folks to create and run their own business? To quote David Shove: "Small IS beautiful" Mark Snyder Windom Park TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
