Walmart previously made a pitch for a store in the Downton Crossing area of Boston and Mayor Menino said no. Now they are making a pitch in Roxbury and the Mayor says no again. I really cannot understand why the mayor will not allow a company to provide jobs for the residents of Boston when many people are struggling to feed their families and pay their bills. According to the Boston Globe (Yes I read this liberal rag from time to time):
"In a recent private meeting with developers, Menino administration officials declined to endorse a plan to open a Walmart Neighborhood Market grocery store at the former Bartlett bus yard, a shuttered MBTA maintenance facility near Dudley Square, where food-shopping options are few.
A spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino said a Walmart would undercut local businesses, including the nearby Tropical Foods market, whose owners are planning to expand in the neighborhood."
Are you kidding me, no Walmart becasue it could affect a nearby Tropical Foods market, who is planning to expand. Is Tropical Foods going to offer the same amount of jobs and opportunity as Walmart? Have they shown the City a business plan with expansion. I sincerely doubt it. And the Mayor would rather leave a beat up old bus facility undeveloped. I really do not understand all the Walmart hate.
Now personally, I do not shop at Walmart. There are none that are convenient to me, and I am pretty happy with the Target at the South Bay center about 2 miles from my home. However, if there was one close to me, I imagine I would go in their from time to time. If for no other reason than to go and see the "people of walmart" live and in person. I love those emails! However Walmart will create jobs for people. Let me write that again, Walmart will create jobs. Although the Mayor and the President for that matter do not seem to think that job creation is of dire importance right now, many people do. And, Roxbury is an area that could use jobs. For those who have never been to the Dudley Square area of Roxbury, it is a high crime area, with many run down buildings, and closed storefronts. So I would imagine that many of the residents there would be happy with some new opportunities.
I realize that all you corporate success haters will complain that Walmart only offers low-wage paying jobs. Although you may be right in that assessment, I m fairly confident that most of the residents of Roxbury are not high high priced engineers, surgeons, or consultants. Also, I do not believe any of the current employers in Roxbury are offering $100K plus a year jobs. The only high paying jobs in Roxbury are the "pharmaceutical salespeople," "arms dealers," and "horizontal refreshment specialists." Of course not only can Walmart offer jobs, but also opportunity for growth within a large corporation, something the little corner store may not be able to offer.
Mayor Menino once again shows that he does not want people to be able to better themselves. He wants to keep them dependent on EBT cards, public housing, and the free handouts giving by the Democratic Political Machine of Boston to ensure votes and power.
Walmart is a cancer, you dont want Walmart nearby. Most jobs at walmart are minimum wage, which these days also qualifies a person for food stamps (snap), low cost housing, medicare, and all manner of other Goverment housing/freebies. So for every job you 'create' at Walmart, you're just adding another person to the list of people that us actual tax payers have to support. No thanks.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, adding a walmart wont add long term jobs that aren't taken from somewhere else. A Walmart itself isn't going to stimulate a lot of NEW consumer demand, it's just going to take business away from other local area stores. So any new employees at Walmart will probably be countered by less employees everywhere. It's not that other stores deserve the business any more, but it's a closed system. Building any kind of store where theres an existing store serving the same needs wont necessarily create any new demand, so will result in no longer term jobs.
..unless of course its based on the fact that Walmart imports only cheaply made chinese imports, which are a whole other issue.