Dec 11: Sprawl & Local Economies Teach-in coincides with Home Depot “Grand Opening”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – December 2, 2008Sprawl and Local Economies Teach-in …coincides with Home Depot “Grand Opening” When: Thursday, Dec. 11, 6PM Where: Food for Thought Books (downtown Amherst, 106 N. Pleasant) Contact: Aron Goldman: 413-218-7865; You’ll have to choose one. Will you attend the Home Depot “grand opening,” celebrating yet another big box for the Pioneer Valley and the traffic-choked eye sore that Route 9 has become; or will you attend the Sprawl and Local Economies Teach-in, and participate in a community discussion about economic and environmental sustainability, and what makes the Pioneer Valley so special? Tough call. What’s at stake? · vibrant downtowns · locally- and family-owned businesses · open space · farmland · wetlands · air/water/noise/light pollution · traffic · public safety · emergency response times · the rail trail · smart growth · taxpayer burden · local and foreign workers' rights · a sense of community, and the Valley's unique quality of life Contractors, planners, environmentalists, students, labor organizers, business owners, and others will explain why they will keep shopping locally. Speakers include Emily Kawano, Center for Popular Economics; Jon Weissman, Western Mass Jobs with Justice; Prakash Laufer, The Brick House and United for a Fair Economy; Simon Keyes, Marchefka & Keyes Construction; and Nick Seaman, Black Sheep Deli. Come share your perspectives on the region’s future. There is another way. It’s called the Pioneer Valley. We beat the Wal-Mart Superstore. Now let’s celebrate, and protect, what we’ve got. For more info visit these local sites: www.stopsprawlmart.org • www.foodforthoughtbooks.com • www.jwj.org • www.hadleyneighbors.org |
Wal-Mart's 'information session' VERY informative!
See media clips: "Wal-Mart event draws protesters" from The Daily Hampshire Gazette (388K PDF) |
Mass DEP rejects Wal-Mart's
environmental impact report!
Your 380 letters worked!
Read the certificate (PDF)
Wal-Mart's PR machine hits the Valley!
Click here to read Wal-Mart's latest mailing to Hadley and Amherst residents.
What you can do:
- Attend Hadley's next public hearing
- Contact critical agencies
- Spread the word
- Stay informed with action alerts
- Contribute
- Share your story
- Write a letter
- Take it national
* If you live in Hadley, check out the
Hadley
Neighbors group to find out what you can do right in town.
"Trashing
Local Treasures"
Valley Advocate, April
13 , 2006
"'All the community is
asking for is for Wal-Mart to obey the law,' said David Elvin, a Hadley
resident and member of Hadley Neighbors for Sensible Development. 'We
just want a store that conforms to state, federal and local laws. This
plan doesn't in dozens of ways, and that's why they're having trouble.'"
Read
article here
"Appeal
to delay new Hadley Wal-Mart"
Hampshire Gazette, February
15, 2006
"A dispute over a wetlands
issue could delay construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter for up to two
years, a Hadley official said Tuesday. The Pyramid Corp. and Wal-Mart
are challenging a ruling by the Conservation Commission that could force
developers to reproduce more wetlands on the site." Read
article here (subscription req'd)
"State
orders Wal-Mart to sell morning-after pill"
Boston Globe, February
15, 2006
Activism works! As a result
of your efforts, Wal-Mart must now provide emergency contraception like
all other MA pharmacies. And what's more, Wal-Mart is considering changing
their policy nationwide. Read the Boston
Globe artricle here. And we're not done yet. Check out Planned
Parenthood's site to see what still needs to be done on this front.
"Workers
stage Wal-Mart rally"
Springfield Republican,
February 6, 2006
"Damaris Meza Guillen
held a pair of Faded Glory jeans like the ones she sews together at
a Nicaraguan factory that supplies Wal-Mart. She said she would have
to work a week to buy the jeans - even at Wal-Mart's prices - because
she is paid only 39 cents an hour....."
Find the article
here.
"Super-sized
Wal-Mart: If we do nothing, they will come"
Community Involved in
Sustaining Agriculature (CISA) Newsletter, January 2005
"For me, a football field
was always my point of reference for something 'really, really, big.'
But in the context of a Wal-Mart or Home Depot, it looks like a putting
green...."
Find the article
here.
"In
Our Opinion: Regional solutions"
Hampshire Gazette, January
9, 2005
"New England is not only
losing jobs and population to other states, it is also losing once-rich
farm land to malls and McMansions. The Pioneer Valley isn't immune to
this disease. Big-box stores line Route 9 in Hadley, the epitome of
urban sprawl in a one-time farm town...."
Find the article
here. (subscription required)
"Sprawl
imperils N.E. character"
Hampshire Gazette, January
9, 2005
"Water supplies are threatened.
People walk less, imperiling health. The poor, minorities, senior citizens
are increasingly isolated. Supplies of affordable housing dry up. Convenient
downtown stores close their doors. Struggling family farms finally give
way to developer dollars...."
Find the article
here. (subscription required)
"...as
welcome as a Wal-Mart Super Store."
John Prine, "Taking
A Walk," 2005
On his latest album, Fair
& Square, Prine compares himself to "a Wal-Mart Super
Store" to describe the unwelcome feeling he has upon arrival on
the doorstep of an ex-girlfriend.
Find the album
here and the lyrics
here.
Sharp-Dressed
Wal-Mart Execs
Springfield Republican,
December 18, 2005
"'The only people who
spoke in favor of the super-sized Wal-Mart expansion were paid to do
so:' the sharp-dressed execs from Wal-Mart, the notorious mega-mall
developer Pyramid, and their locally recruited lawyers, engineers and
PR people. While their physical appearance was sharp, their presentation
was anything but."
Read
the Republican aticle here.
Residents
submit 91 pages of environmental concerns
Hampshire Gazette, December
15, 2005
Download
the one-page fact sheet here.
Read
the Gazette article here.
"Spiritual
Nausea"
Hampshire Gazette, December
10, 2005
"[Living wages] is one
of the causes espoused by the local group fighting the expansion of
the Hadley Wal-Mart store. Addressing a Nov. 5 rally on the Amherst
Common, [Rev.
Robert] Hirschfeld spoke of the 'spiritual nausea' he feels when
he ventures into the store."
"We
can do nothing about your concerns."
Springfield Republican,
December 8, 2005
While the Planning Board made
it clear that they would interpret their role very narrowly, Valley
residents had every kind of concern.
"Wal-Mart
approval is a long way from secure"
NPR Albany (WAMC), December
7, 2005
"In all of the technicalities
of curb heights and ques, the bigger issue is getting lost: Wal-Mart
stands for everything that is wrong and the majority of residents in
Hadley and the Valley don't want this Wal-Mart," according to one
resident.
Wal-Mart
overlooks its own censorship policy in order to sell iPods
Nasdaq/Dow Jones, November
29, 2005
Referring to a "philosophical"
argument with Apple's Steve Jobs (Apple lets people listen to music
Wal-Mart won't), Wal-Mart says "He won, we lost." Wal-Mart's
exceptional after-Thanksgiving sales are attributed to better product
offerings including the iPod line. The mega-store was willing to set
aside its conservative social policy agenda for sales (this one time).
"Nothing
to do with local needs"
Valley Free Radio (103.3
FM), November 2, 2005
Corporate Watchdog Radio correspondant
Jody Shapiro interviews Aron Goldman on location at the Amherst Farmer's
Market.
Listen
to the interview here... (mp3)
"200
join in protest of Wal-Mart plan"
The Hampshire Gazette,
November 7, 2005
"State Rep. Ellen Story,
D-Amherst, spoke at Saturday's rally, saying many Wal-Mart employees
seek state health insurance because Wal-Mart doesn't provide it. 'This
is paid by us, the taxpayers of Massachusetts,' she said."
Read
More... (subscription required)
"Protesting
Wal-Mart"
The Boston Globe, November
6, 2005
Download
photo and blurb here
"Rally
set to oppose Wal-Mart"
The Springfield Republican,
November 2, 2005
"A citizen group that wants to stop commercial sprawl throughout
the Pioneer Valley will stage a rally on the Town Common on Saturday.
The rally is a kick off for the 'Stop Sprawl Mart Campaign' devised
by the Shutesbury-based Policy Development Committee."
"Urban
Sprawl Comes to Amherst Common!"
Kelsey's Morning Show
Blog (WRSI), November 2, 2005
"But in a good way. The
folks behind Stopsprawlmart.org are having a fancy launch celebration
this Saturday on the Amherst Town Common from 11am to 1pm. There's going
to be singing and dancing and big giant puppets. What's the big deal?
'The big box stores bring me big box savings!' Is that what I hear you
saying? Well, sure. But as my mom likes to say, 'Buy it cheap, buy it
twice.' But who cares when it's toilet paper? The point is we the tax-payers,
we the community pay a lot more in long term costs than we save in toilet
paper." Read
more...
"Just
a Hadley Problem?"
The Valley Advocate, October
13, 2005
"With Wal-Mart raising the stakes with a proposed new supercenter,
anti-sprawl activists are beginning to think regionally.... In the five
years since Wal-Mart opened its first store in Hadley in 2000, its reputation
hasn't improved with activists. In 2001, Wal-Mart was cited by the federal
Environmental Protection Agency for failing to prevent stormwater runoff
during construction and agreed to a $1 million settlement. Now it looks
as if the discount store will likely be abandoned if the new supercenter
gets built. "Wal-Mart is a particularly ugly prospect for the Valley,"
said Patricia Loomis, spokeswoman for Stop Sprawl Mart." Read
more...
Community
Growing Pains, Part I
WFCR Radio, Sept. 8, 2005
The proliferation of big box stores in Hadley, Massachusetts sets the
stage for what seems to be a common modern day saga. It's a tale about
community growing pains, one that almost always pits residents against
each other. Susan Kaplan reports in the first of an ongoing series,
called Community Growing Pains. Listen...
Community
Growing Pains, Part II
WFCR Radio, Sept. 9, 2005
Route nine in Hadley, Massachusetts is in the midst of major retail
development. With a potential Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Lowe's Home Improvement
store all in development, hearings with the town's planning board have
been taking place every few weeks. A hearing for the Lowe's store is
set for September 20th. In part two of our series on community growing
pains, WFCR's Susan Kaplan visits with the farmer who plans to sell
some of his land for that Lowe's store. Listen...