Stop The Wal-Mart in Tiftonia

In Opposition Of Lookout Valley Wal-Mart
posted June 5, 2004

I am in opposition to the Lookout Valley Walmart. I will be attending the planning commission meeting on Monday, June 14, to voice my opposition.

Three factors play in my opposition. First, the neighborhood adjacent to the proposed facility will suffer from light pollution and air pollution. The air contamination source will be nightly parking of 50 to 100 semitrailer rigs with engines running. Property values of Moss and Astor Avenue homes will fall and resale will be largely for rental ownership.

Second, traffic is already a problem with two underpasses in Lookout Valley and St. Elmo narrowed to two lanes. Watch this when the interstate is shut.

Third, business in Lookout Valley with approximately 50 business locations will suffer. At this time from I-24 to Scenic highway along Cummings Hwy of those locations for retail there are 15 either shuttered or with "for sale" or "for lease" signs. At least seven businesses currently in Lookout Valley will suffer: Ace Hardware, Bi-lo, Sun and Shade, Food Lion, CVS, White Auto Parts, and Sharp Automotive. Four of those are locally owned.

What members of this community who oppose this proposed change need are our voices and our presence on Monday, June 14. Lookout Valley can grow in a responsible and sustainable manner. We are seven minutes by unclogged interstate to the courthouse. This fact alone could make this community stay a bedroom community much more convenient to downtown jobs than Signal Mountain, Hixson, or Brainerd.

Please feel free to contact me at 821-1988 or prenticehicks@mindspring.com. Most of all, tell our neighbors to join with us. We can preserve the integrity we currently have in this community.

Prentice Hicks
(423) 821-1988 phone/fax
http://www.prenticehicks.com

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COALITION FOR RESPONSIBLE PROGRESS
P.O. Box 8475, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37414

You may have seen today's letter to the editor in the Chattanooga Times Free Press regarding the proposal for yet another Wal-Mart in the Chattanooga area. This time, it is in Tiftonia. Similar to the situation in Brainerd, the forces for bringing in Wal-Marts are ignoring the wishes of the area residents as expressed in plans on paper for the area. Once again, Fletcher Bright is involved as one of the developers. Once again, Wal-Mart will not agree to meet with citizens.

The first line of defense in stopping this latest Wal-Mart is zoning. The land is zoned R-1, single family residential and a change must be approved. It is important to have a large showing at the zoning meeting this MONDAY, JUNE 14 in the old Hamilton County Courthouse on Walnut Street. Go to the 4th floor. The meeting will start at 1 p.m. and end by 4p.m. Through our Brainerd efforts, we have built up some momentum. Let's keep the pressure on. Make your displeasure known by your presence. Please stand by our Tiftonia citizens and make every effort to attend this meeting for Wal-Mart already has options on other pieces of land around Chattanooga.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
We know that Wal-Mart hurts small businesses and even large groceries, that they tend to irresponsibly build in wetlands, that they practice gender discrimination, that they encourage sweatshops in foreign countries, and that they refuse to allow employees to unionize. We know also that this richest company in the world is set up so that many of its employees must seek health insurance at the expense of taxpayers through TNCare. Such behavior should not be rewarded.

Spread the Word!

I dunno. As cool as locally owned businesses are, I can't help but think that except for truly specialty stores and restaurants, they are the way of the past. Mom and pop stores are cool, but not given to long-term viability. Wal-Mart also creates jobs. Lots of them. Granted, they don't pay very well, but frankly right now I'm worried about the lack of options for people without the training and/or discipline for "real" jobs. Some low-level retail opportunities could be a good thing.

Additionally, Wal-Mart is not necessarily bad for local businesses, just the ones that compete with it. The Wal-Mart built in Brainerd brought with it a strip mall with a dozen or so stores and/or restaurants that wouldn't otherwise be there. Who knows? Maybe the extra traffic would be the impetus needed to bring busineses back to St. Elmo after a long drought. They wouldn't be hardware stores, but specialty botiques. I can't see MoJo going out of business because of Wal-Mart, but Ace Hardware might. And if things to spectacularly well, we might be able to get rid of that damnable Buehler's hole on Market.

Wal-Mart actually doesn't have a net positive effect on jobs. For every two jobs they create (which of course, are low-wage, low-hour and probably benefits-less), three are lost in the local community. And all that money they take in is going back to Arkansas, not staying here in the local economy.

http://www.walmartwatch.com/

If no argument in the world will convince you that Wal-Mart is bad for communities, simply take a stroll through one on a Saturday. I guarantee you will need no further reason.

I love Buehler's. Where else can I get cat food and reasonably priced Camel Lights downtown? Where else can I turn to escape the yuppies? It's such a lovely 70's holdout, and it seems to be thriving. Unless someone's putting a Wal-Mart in the aquarium, I can't see Buehler's going anywhere.

would you feel the same way if it was a super Target going there instead of a super Walmart? just checking the coolness factor...

I'm a big fan of the little guy, but how can you argue with low prices when the budget is tight? for example, we just re-covered a yardsale chair with material bought at wally ($30). the same material would've cost $75 at hancocks or whatever.

this is a minor point, but the profits are going to the shareholders, who may or may not live in arkansas.

oh yeah, and Beuler's rocks. where else can you get a 40oz downtown?

Exactly.

Yeah, I perused WalMartWatch this afteroon and wasn't very impressed. First of all, most of the links on their site just plain don't work. But more than that, it seems to be significantly more anti-capitalist propaganda than a truly responsible investigative site. Can you find links to attribution for the numbers that - for all I know - they pull out of thin air? Not most of the time, unless they're linking to an article in a news site. Anytime some says "studies show" without providing a link to said study I'm tempted to call bullshit.

And the point about Wal-Mart vs. Target is well made. I can't see this level of furor developing over a new Target, which would do most of the same things to the "community" that a Wal-Mart would do, but without the name that hipsters and left-liberals love to hate.

About jobs being lower paid and without benefits: that was kind of my point. I'm increasingly convinced that America is transitioning away from a largely middle-class society. Any jobs created that require little to no education are important, because more and more people are getting just that, even the ones in school. I predict that in a few years everyone will fall into one of three categories: the independantly wealthy, professionals with advanced degrees, and the working class. It's mostly like that today, but we're only just starting to figure that out.

Regarding all the supposed illegalities and shady business practices of Wal-Mart: not that this excuses their behavior, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that they aren't doing anything that every other multi-billion dollar corporation isn't doing, they're just a convenient target.

I say bring in the Wal-Mart. You can't really fight it you know. It's best to grow into the future, not away from it.

Tiftonia 8 minutes from east brainerd? c'mon now...

Ryan,

It's hard to argue with the reality that America is growing more economically stratified, but why is that a trend that should be passively accepted? Of course, we can't change nationwide trends, but every community has a certain degree of freedom to chose an alternate, equally progressive path, one that doesn't siphon local dollars out of state, while providing the poorest residents with jobs that offer no new skills or security.

I'm no great opponent of development, and I think WalMart is unfairly demonized as an evil corporate monolith. (It's probably more like semi-evil.) But I hate the argument that "you can't fight the future." Of course you can't escape economic change and community shifts. But you can look for ways to create a different kind of future -- one where every suburb doesn't look the same, and the poorest workers aren't trapped in a world of muzak and menial labor.

The next, very fair question is: what would that future look like? That's not something I can declare off the top of my head, but I think it's worth discussing, instead of squaring off on corporate/anti-corporate lines again.

I hate that store. I just seeth at those stupid commercials about how Walmart shoppers save time with one-stop shop. That place is SO huge and SO disorganized, and I ALWAYS spend AT LEAST an hour in line. I'm not kidding! I go back about every 6 months and think"maybe this time it won't be so bad", and it ALWAYS is. I hate it! The Walmart in New Orleans sucks. Maybe in other places it's fine, but here it's like a...a...a...well, I just hate it.

Mesh

On your rebut to America becoming more economically stratified and not passively accepting it. Personally, I think America is dividing b/c some people are willing to work hard over several generations and eventually put their family in the upper levels. Some people aren't willing to make the personal sacrifices necessary to move themselves or their descendants into a higher econominc/social level. Yes it is very possible, even today, for a hard working, lower class American to lay the framework which will enable his children or grandchildren to move up in society. My family is an example of this, my Grandfather worked hard in the coal mines and factories of PA, he sacrificed to give his sons a better chance. My dad and his brothers continued that had work and discipline to give me an even better chance than they had. But, any change must begin on the personal level. Wal-mart is not creating the economic division in America, I think good and bad work ethics spread over the time of several generations has more to do with the growing problem. So, how do we change this? I think Wal-mart is the wrong place to start. Any change has to come from w/in the person. How do you change a lazy person who refuses to learn from his mistakes and fails to accept the consequences of his inaction into one w/ a selfless vision of hope for his posterity? I think the heart is a good place to start. I think Christians need to affect the hearts of those that God has put into their day to day lives. Change a persons heart a little bit and it might give them hope and motivate them to do what is needed to begin the climb out of Wal-mart. On top of that, Wal-mart might be the tool used by that first generation to begin that climb. Maybe an 18 year old kid will get a job stocking shelves, he works hard and slowly climbs up to lower management. From there he may move into a low level postion in an office somewhere. He may even stay there the rest of his working life, but he can lay a framework for his kids and if they build on that, they may start in the low level office job and move up a bit during their life. Stretch that out over a few generations and Wal-mart turns into the impetus for well grounded upper-middle-class family.

However, I'm opposed to putting a Wal-mart in Tiftonia b/c I hate bad traffic and I think it would turn the small roads into a nightmare.

I guess once you become big and successful and provide customers with real value, you inevitably become a target. Middle and upperclass people sometimes forget, that one of the principal beneficiaries of Walmart are lower income citizens who are provided access to just about anything at cheap, cheap prices.

I love Walmart. We really do all our shopping there and it saves us both time and money.

The argument that the big business is bad for the local economy is completely unfounded. Imagine that Mom and Pop hardware sold hammers for $11, which they themselves purchased at cost for $10. After paying their costs of production, they have an extra dollar to spend in the local economy.

Wal-mart comes along and opens shop. They get hammers for $5 and sell hammers for $6. After paying their factors of production, the extra dollar leaves the state. But now there is an additional $5 being spent in the local economy.

Walmart and local economies is really nothing more than the story of the gains from trade writ small.

(the additional $5 being spent in the local economy meaning the price savings afforded to local citizens.)

Last thing and I'll shut up. I think people should be very suspicious of using the political process to exclude certain people from doing business in an area. Doing this is going to favor people who have a reason to organize (ie, people who experience the costs of the new business in such a way that it justifies the use of time and money to organize politically), and it's going to be biased against those people who do not have reason to organize. With Walmart, for instance, the benefits that she brings to the community is diffused over thousands of people. For the community, it's large, but for each individual, it's sufficiently small to not justify the expenditures needed to organize. But the costs are concentrated among a select few individuals - for example, other shop owners who will be in direct competition to Walmart.

The political process will not necessarily relfect the "will of the people." A market will do this much better than voting. There's a reason why Wal-mart succeeds and the other companies do not when she enters town - people are essetnially "voting with their feet" by choosing to purchase their goods from Walmart and not from the other stores.

I could go into a rant about the kinds of abuses I saw of this in the local political and economic situation in New Orleans, where wealthy, white property owners had disproportionate influence in determining what businesses could and could not do business there. Small, slightly progressive towns like Chattanooga or Athens (where I live) run the risk of the same thing when they try to use a command-and-control approach to managing their city's culture.

Of course, I could also be full of shit since I probably don't know what I'm talking about.

Incidentally, Mesh and Josiah, I had desert the other night with two old Covenant alums - Jane and Ben Harper. It was nice to see the degrees of separation between me and you guys decrease even more. Very nice peeps, too. I think he will be glad to know that I have vowed not to make any jokes about him being the front man in a rock and roll band.

nothing kills a conversation quite like a quintuple post.

Too bad.

Yay Wal-Mart...boo Communism!

I agree with Scott's suspicion over using legislation to exclude buisness in an area, to an extent. However, I also think that Wal-Mart is Satan incarnate. And Anti-Trust laws were made to keep Satan out of Chattanooga. At least, that's how I read it.

Chattanooga's main attraction to me has always been it's local flavor. The downtown area has all the cool local chains and independent stores, whilst we relegate all the big chain restaurants and malls out towards Hamilton Place. Fine with me.

I was talking to Todd Willison yesterday about Starbucks and Chilis etc. etc. downtown, and how we're afraid that some of that local flavor might be lost. Progress is fine, but do we really need to be a huge city? I think Chattanooga is a decent sized town with no need to try to score more big chains in hopes of being another New York or L.A.

Also, Todd was saying that the downtown is kinda like Chattanooga's historic district, and if we let chains come in, it will destroy the history. Most city's lose their historic districts before they have a chance to preserve them. Let's not do that.

So in conclusion: Yay Communism. Boo Wal-Mart.

Oh come on! I'll start to be worried when they have plans to put a Wal-Mart in downtown Chattanooga...It's not like Wal-Mart brings in tax money or creates job (though they maybe low paying...what about a job @ a restaurant??)...actually I patronize Wal-Mart frequently. My family and friends do also. I haven't seen any businesses close down. Traffic to those areas might have been down a negligable percentage...but not much. I don't think I have ever seen a Mom & Pop grocer around in my area (around the Rossville/Ft. O area) anytime way way before a Wal-Mart Supercenter came on the scene. Chattanooga has moved from a industrial city to a scenic tourist trap...i mean town (only kidding). I say bring in more hi-tech companies. You people whine, moan, and complain about this. Get over it! It's American Capitalism at work! It's great! I think if you want something better than a Wal-Mart or McJob...get an education or something! I don't plan on working as a bag boy or a cart runner (unless I am in desperate need of income). I don't think that the local shops in downtown will be pushed out. I hope not.

Anyway...finally

Yay Wal-Mart...Boo all the Commie Freaks!!!

Mr. Hicks,
I was reading the article Irresponsible Journalism and noticed that you made reference to Moss Avenue property values. My mother lives on S. Moss Avenue and I wanted to check and see if they intended to buy her house. She has lived there for 40 years and wouldn't want to move. So, if you could give me some information about the proposed Wal Mart plans I would truly appreciate it.
Thank you,
Ginger Garrett

ok, so instead of petitioning to remove walmart from the area...
Let's change the petition to say that walmart can come, but only after completing the reconstruction of our roads to handle their increased traffic volume.
we get new roads, they get a business.. what happened to compromise?

they are just choking everything else out and then they will close one or two of them-starbucks does the same thing everywhere

I worked for Walmart for 3.5 years and Jerry Chambers fired me for drawing on a box.