Anonymous wrote:DC minimum wage is NOT 12.50, I don't know why someone wrote that. I also think people need to distinguish between West of the Park and East of the River. Walmart coming or not coming has zero impact on the neighborhoods east of the park. However, its a huge loss to east of the river of folks where there is almost no retail particularly full size grocery stores. I live in Petworth (on Ga ave for those of you who dont cross the park) and the washington business journal just did a story on Petworth being the hottest neighborhood in the area based on year over year increases. My own house has appreciated from 540k to $780 k in two years and I can assure you it has nothing to do with walmart.

Anonymous wrote:DC would rather pay people to stay on welfare rather than work. Congrats

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem just isn't walmart it is that dc is setting up anti business rules against large businesses. This is going to have a ripple effect on other companies like costco, target etc.

Costco is already paying its employees a living wage, because it is not run by disgusting, soul-sucking scumbags like Walmart is.

Sorry, off-topic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Walmart is not a plus in an already vibrant low price shopping corridor. Maybe high SES people will feel more comfortable shopping at Walmart, however, there are a number of "dollar' type stores in the area already selling low cost goods or cheap junk-your choice. Walmart got city concessions and did not offer any. Given how much we taxpayers will pay for Walmart, its employees' health care needs with little return, the bill will help protect DC's citizens in many ways.

Exactly what concessions did Walmart receive? I was under the impression they were not given any tax incentives to come into the cit. Costco is s a different story however. The city paid or the roads and new sewers for Costco, but I don't recall the same legislation o Walmart.

Anonymous wrote:PP, have you never looked around the area by the Target in DC? There is a CVS across the street, a Bed Bath and Beyond in the same complex as well as a Best Buy. All of the things you can buy in those stores you can also buy in the Target but they still want to be near the Target anyway because they know that people shop at different places. A Walmart would be the same way. Also, if you have ever been to any of the Walmart heavy areas in the burbs/smaller cities you would know that there are always lots of other retail options right near the Walmart. My Sister is in Columbia South Carolina and they have tons of Walmarts and also nearby grocery stores from other chains, drugstores, and on and on. The idea that nothing will locate near a Walmart is just not true at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People in DC will continue to shop elsewhere, further reducing DC's tax base and ability to provide basic municipal services. It's a vicious cycle. WalMart isn't some great benevolent entity, but they are someone willing to invest lots of $, employ lots of people (albeit not at first year associate wages), and provide needed taxes and development in poorer communities.

What? the problem is that Wal-mart ends up costing municipalities due to the fact that their employees end up relying on social services because of their low wages and terrible benefits.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People in DC will continue to shop elsewhere, further reducing DC's tax base and ability to provide basic municipal services. It's a vicious cycle. WalMart isn't some great benevolent entity, but they are someone willing to invest lots of $, employ lots of people (albeit not at first year associate wages), and provide needed taxes and development in poorer communities.

Laughably wrong.

What constrains DC's tax base is the lack of available housing for middle-class households. That means building more 3/4 bedroom condos with ground-floor retail, and encouraging mixed-use development on the boundary of gentrifying areas. Given a choice between having 100,000 new DC residents who will drive to MD or VA to buy durable goods, versus having stagnant population growth and big box stores with "ample parking" scattered around town, only a fool would choose the latter.

And the more sprawling suburban type developments we permit/encourage in DC, the less attractive DC will be for new residents who want to live in places like Capitol Hill, Columbia Heights, and Old Town. Big box stores make DC shittier; that reduces in-migration.

Anonymous wrote:Walmart is not a plus in an already vibrant low price shopping corridor. Maybe high SES people will feel more comfortable shopping at Walmart, however, there are a number of "dollar' type stores in the area already selling low cost goods or cheap junk-your choice. Walmart got city concessions and did not offer any. Given how much we taxpayers will pay for Walmart, its employees' health care needs with little return, the bill will help protect DC's citizens in many ways.

Anonymous wrote:People in DC will continue to shop elsewhere, further reducing DC's tax base and ability to provide basic municipal services. It's a vicious cycle. WalMart isn't some great benevolent entity, but they are someone willing to invest lots of $, employ lots of people (albeit not at first year associate wages), and provide needed taxes and development in poorer communities.