Saving Banff by Stacy Mitchell originally published in Calgary Herald, June 27, 2003 Banff, like many communities in western Canada, is facing a growing influx of multinational chains [“Banff fears ‘corporate branding’ of resort”]. Stores like The Gap and Starbucks are multiplying rapidly, undermining the unique character of this lovely mountain town and displacing locally owned … Read More
In an effort to reduce a budget deficit and make the city more "developer friendly," in the words of Mayor Charles Luken, Cincinnati has abolished its planning department. Eight staff members and the remnants of the city’s planning activities have been transferred to the community development department. The department will carry out state-mandated functions, such as zoning and historic preservation. Planning will largely be subordinate to economic development. … Read More
Years of fighting a Wal-Mart supercenter slated for a flood plain in a rural area of Decorah, Iowa, have finally paid off for a tenacious group of residents and small business owners. On April 2, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the Decorah City Council acted illegally when it approved a Wal-Mart supercenter in the Upper Iowa River flood plain. … Read More
Citizens in Front Royal, Virginia, a town of 13,000 in the Shenandoah Valley, are organizing to block a 184,000-square-foot Wal-Mart superstore. The development is slated for 121-acre tract of flood plain land bordering the south fork of the Shenandoah River. In order to proceed, Wal-Mart must convince the town to re-zone the land from residential to commercial. Residents have organized under the banner "Save Our Gateway" to fight the project. … Read More
Local businesses, nonprofit organization, and residents are uniting in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to bolster the local economy and build a more self-reliant community. The Santa Fe Independent Business Community Alliance (SFIBCA) formed in December and has already attracted more than 370 members. About 60 percent of the members are independent businesses supplying a broad range of goods and services: bookstores, pharmacies, banks, radio stations, auto repair shops, accountants, printers, builders, beauty salons, and physicians. … Read More
Album sales dropped more than 11 percent last year. Forecasts predict they will dive another 6 percent this year. The internet is partly to blame; the record industry says 2.6 billion music files are downloaded from the internet each month, many of which are burned to CDs. Music is also facing competition from other forms of entertainment, especially among teenagers, who are spending more money on DVDs and electronic games. Radio consolidation hasn’t helped either. … Read More
The Thai government has issued a new directive designed to control the expansion of superstores. The measure requires provinces to establish committees to draft new planning rules that stipulate where large-scale stores may locate. The directive covers all of Thailand’s 76 provinces, except Bangkok and three other major cities, which already have zoning in place. The government estimates it will take three years to implement land use planning nationwide.… Read More
In March, British officials launched an inquiry to examine the competitive impacts of a merger between two of the country’s top supermarket chains. The findings could derail attempts by Britain’s top three and number five chains—Tesco, Sainsbury, Wal-Mart-owned Asda, and Morrison—to purchase the fourth largest grocery chain, Safeway.… Read More
In February, the city of Bozeman, Montana, enacted an ordinance limiting retail stores to no more than 75,000 square feet. The measure makes permanent a temporary moratorium on construction of large retail stores in place for the past year. The ordinance was approved by a 3-2 vote of the City Commission and took effect on March 21.… Read More
