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The fact that Walmart will provide some much needed employment, even if it is at a low wage, is obviously a good thing. However, the notion that we should allow a business to operate based entirely on its ability to provide jobs, as some posts on this subject have suggested, is dangerous. It's that kind of thinking that brought us the GSE debacle. Whether a Walmart should be allowed in the Midway area ought to be decided on whether it will make the Midway neighborhood and St. Paul the kind of place where we want to live. Incidentally, it's often said that small businesses provide most of the jobs in the country. And, if you're going to tout Walmart on the basis of the jobs it will create, you've got to take into account the jobs that will be lost when it succeeds in taking business away from existing retailers and those retailers' suppliers. Do not think that other businesses won't suffer from the competition that Walmart will bring down on them. In my view, the entire Midway shopping center is an abomination. It represents the suburbanization of the city and its near total dependence on the automobile. But, it's a little late to undo the whole development. As Walmart will only replace one big box retailer with another, any changes to the neighborhood will be the result of Walmart's more successful business model. It is a much more agressive competitor than KMart ever was. I suspect that its real victims will be the other big box retailers in the center. So, my conclusion is that you might as well allow Walmart to come in. The damage was done long ago when a suburban, auto oriented shopping center was first allowed. But don't allow it on the basis of job creation alone. That argument doesn't wash. There will be both negative and positive effects. Who knows? Maybe Walmart will use its clout to get the Central Corridor project moving again. Charlie Swope Ramsey Hill _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ _____________________________________________ For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract
