Walmart loses in Inglewood, CA

[dd74]

The city of Inglewood said a big ol' "NO" to Walmart. Personally, I think it's great a community rallied together and rejected a big coporate conglomerate like Walmart - particularly after Walmart bypassed the usual route of trying to establish its 180,000 square foot superstore by taking an unprecedented route of going to the people of Inglewood instead of the city.

Sure, people need jobs, and working for a little better than minimum wage at a company like Walmart outdoes not working at all. But Walmart would also be putting out of business many small stores that have been in the city for a long time.

Very interesting...

[speeder]

I think that is great news, and hopefully the start of a major trend. But I'm sure that this will turn into a piss-fest thread.

God, I miss the days when conservatives all said, "buy American, the job you save might be your own." Sigh....

Walmart is Satan.

Build a Target and Bestbuy or something down there w/ the Starbucks and Outback Steakhouse, etc., that they were talking about.

[Sonic dB]

Isnt Inglewood borderline slum/ghetto? Wouldnt they benefit from a store like Walmart that pumps money into the local economy?

Geeze... the city of Detroit would kill for such a thing.

[dd74]

Nah - Inglewood's not that bad the closer you get to LAX. It's pretty much middle income folks. But when you're going east toward the 110 freeway, you better duck and drive fast.

But the financial state of Inglewood isn't really the point. The point is 66-percent of the city told a big honkering American corporation to basically shove it. I love it when community works. It shows one does have the ability to fight the power.

[dd74]

Here's a CNN link:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/07/opposing.wal.mart.ap/index.html

[island911]

I just don't understand how a community could say NO to low paying jobs AND 180,000 square foot of crap.

Seems the community is a bit more highbrow than "borderline slum/ghetto".

[john70t]

I don't know why the feds didn't step in and make them accept Walmart. One store would certainly be easier to defend in the next riot

[RickM]

Originally posted by john70t
I don't know why the feds didn't step in and make them accept Walmart. One store would certainly be easier to defend in the next riot

Didn't they stop selling guns 'n ammo?

[mudman]

I know Kmart did, but I'm not sure if Wallymart did or not. Have you seen the documentary "Bowling for Colubine"? great film with stuff about Kmart and guns.

[Zeke]

They said no to a huge source of tax revenue too. I don't like Wal Mart or what it stands for, but I do know how people can limit free choice. I'm sure there will be a court challenge. OTH, a neighboring community may woo the Mart and grab the tax money.

It's funny how the little city of Signal Hill with about 8000 people right in the middle of Long Beach (completely surrounded) got the jump and scored several car dealers, a Home Depot and more all in a sq. mi. of old oil field. While Long Beach is $100 mil in the hole, SH has a surplus.

[Brillo]

Walmart wants to build one in the city of Rosemead with a gas station in the midst of an older community of homes and a school across the street. It will absoultely snarle traffic in the area and probably really mess up the 60 Fwy at San Gabriel Blvd.

It seems cities have no idea how to gain revenue without destroying the quality of life.

[singpilot]

Originally posted by Brillo
It seems cities have no idea how to gain revenue without destroying the quality of life.

So true. Both ways. Just saw Maxine Waters on TV saying that WalMart was going to ignore the ecological, enviornmental, zoning, and tax laws of the state of California, and THAT is the reason that they were refused by the voters. Hmmmm. That would have been some feat in Kahleeforneeah.

Then the report cut to a guy on the street saying (on hearing the vote results) "Oh swell.... what IS going to go in there? Who in their right mind would want to build east of Hollywood Park and the Forum?"

It will be interesting.

Zeke: Good observation on Signal Hill... so true!

[GrindingGears]

dd74 is right, Inglewood (ala LAX area) can have it's slummy/ghetto moments, but for the most part it's not too bad. I used to date a girl who lived there, Manchester and Inglewood Ave, I'd roll in the p-car all the time. Although I would park behind a gated driveway with automatic light sensors.

I used to enjoy going down to the corner store getting a couple 40s and proceeding to get bilegerant (sp?) on her porch. People would look at me like, "wtf is this guy doing buying 40s here?"

I have no opinion on the Walmart issues. I guess b/c I could argue for both sides.

[dd74]

It's ironic Wal-Mart will ignore environmental impact studies required by the state, when it was the state that built the largest state-funded black hole in U.S. History - which is Belmont High beside the 110 Freeway.

Great work, building a high school on a toxic waste site, and finding out about it only AFTER the building was finished. Moronic...

[Superman]

I love it. thanks, Dave.

Zeke you put your finger right on it, if I can assume your post was sarcastic. This was not a choice between good revenues and free choice on the one hand, and low revenues and enslavement on the other. Rather, there was revenues and civic restructuring essentially mandated by the decision of a very large corporation on the one hand, and on the other hand the citizens noticed they could forego the tax revenues in favor of protecting local merchants, maintaining employment stability, avoid wage erosion and generally protect their freedom. Interesting, isn't it? One groups says "freedom" means not daring to restrict the profiteering agenda of Big Business, while the other group thinks it has more to do with people, lives, communities and happiness. Hmmmmmm.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Yea, parts of "Ingle-hood" are definitely a s-hole, but other parts are okay - kind of like everywhere else in SoCal. I'm just glad the residents showed some sack and exerted some direction over THEIR community. Good!

Using the WalMart in my city (Long Beach) as an example: WalMart contributes little or nothing to the local community: a bunch of crappy dead-end jobs, overcrowding, traffic, etc. This is going to be politically incorrect and there's really no nice way to say it, but it also attracts some of the more unsavory characters from the "ghetto" areas of the community (being close to the bus / rail line exacerbates this). So now all these people are hanging around what otherwise might be a reasonably nice area of the city, bringing down the image / reputation and (probably) property values because of these people attracted by the low prices, "don't-have-to-work-too-hard" jobs, etc.

I don't want to sound snobbish or start a class war / flame war, but why the heck doesn't WalMart build in the lower income neighborhoods if that's the clientele they wish to market to? Why do they need to bring down a borderline-upscale area (such as is the case in Long Beach) or an area potentially renewing itself such as would have been the case with the site in Inglewood? That area has some potential to turn itself around and seems to be moving in the right direction (slowly), depending on demographics, economic factors, etc. but WalMart would have absolutely destroyed any chance that area had to be perceived as anything other than a dump because of what it would attract.

Way to go Inglewood!

Now if all the other communities will follow suit and we can keep them the hell out of California any more than they're here already, we'll be in good shape!

[911ctS]

Im with all you guys. Hate Walmart with a burning passion. The reality is that Walmart poses to help our economy but ends up doing just the opposite. I remember hearing a statistic like: For every 1 job Walmart creates it destroys 5 ohters. If you really think about it, Hmmm......a bunch of cheap crap inside a huge a$$ building, most all of it made in other countries, and providing lifer's with horrible paying jobs. Yeah, thats real good for the country and the economy, yeah right. Its only good for corporate Walmart, so they can chase Bill gates up the richest person in america ladder.

Burn Walmart.....Burn

[adrian jaye]

SO there is a place called "inglewood", I heard that in a rap song

"yo inglewoood",
da de da da da, I'm the one and only Dr double E