About Mr. Bouchard's comments "not in my backyard"

Thursday February 24, 2005

Mr. Bouchard noted the following in his rantings on 2/24/05: North Smithfield politicians, knowing the project will be good for them in the long run, must be sensitive to the "not in my backyard" constituency which showed up at Tuesday night's Town Council meeting.

Seems a rather dismissive tone to those who have concerns. For me, this is not a project in my back yard, it is across the street. Now, I could be a good modern American and rationalize it's acceptance by my thoughts of potential land value increases in 10 or 15 years when my side of street catches the eye of the developers. Or, I could recall the 5 hour mess when a truck flipped over on the bridge after the split of 146 and 146A, ask my self what if and hit the Internet looking to see if there are reasons for concern. I'm certain that is what my town leaders are doing, right? I mean, we all have heard the positives of this.

What did I find in 10 minutes effort? Here are a few lines from various studies, each line a different study:

1. Overall, the portion of families living in poverty nationwide fell from 13.1 to 10.7 percent between 1989 and 1999. Counties that gained one Wal-Mart store showed an 8 percent smaller reduction in the poverty rate compared to the national average, while those that gained two Wal-Mart stores experienced a 16 percent smaller reduction in poverty.

2. They found that spending $100 at one of the neighborhood's independent businesses creates $68 in additional local economic activity, while spending $100 at a chain produces only $43 worth of local impact.

3. On average, retail buildings produced a net annual loss of $0.44 per square foot.

4. Three times as much money stays in the local economy when you buy goods and services from locally owned businesses instead of large chain stores, according to this analysis, which tracked the revenue and expenditures of eight locally owned businesses in Midcoast Maine.

5. (love this one) This study examines the likely impact of a proposed 510,000-square-foot shopping center, which would include a Wal-Mart supercenter, a Lowe's, a department store such as Kohl's, and four chain restaurants...Because of the impact on existing businesses, the 869 jobs created by the center will be offset by about the same number of job losses. After accounting for the cost of providing city services to the new development and declining property tax revenue from existing businesses, the study concludes that the project would produce only $51,000 in additional revenue, about $3 annually for each of Leominster's 17,000 households.

6. The study also concluded that, "dollar for dollar, money spent in locally owned shops has a larger impact on the community than money spent in shops headquartered outside of the region.

7. The study finds that spending $100 at Borders creates $13 worth of local economic activity, while spending $100 at the local stores generates $45 in local economic activity.

8. The study found that big box retail generates a net annual deficit of $468 per 1,000 square feet. Shopping centers likewise produce an annual drain of $314 per 1,000 square feet. By far the most costly are fast-food restaurants, which have a net annual cost of $5,168 per 1,000 square feet. In contrast, the study found that specialty retail, a category that includes small-scale Main Street businesses, has a positive impact on pubic revenue (i.e., it generates more tax revenue than it costs to service).

9. Sales of hardware and building supplies in the host community and surrounding counties are tracked over several years to test what the authors call the "zero-sum-game theory," namely that the retail sales gains generated by big box stores are offset by sales losses at existing, often locally owned, retail stores. The results confirm the theory...

10. Over the last 12 years, Concord added 2.8 million square feet of new commercial and industrial development. Yet tax revenue has actually declined by 19 percent. To make up for lost revenue, the town now has one of the highest property tax rates in the state. This study by RKG Associates, an independent economic consulting firm...

You know, I don't think I want it across the street, never mind my back yard.

Dr. Daniel J. Becker
327 Eddie Dowling Hwy.
N. Smithfield, RI 02896