Making the Case for Wal-Mart George Fisher | Centerville Wal-Mart opponent Point of View: Centerville long ago established itself as a model suburban community—the perfect location for the newest Wal-Mart Supercenter on the Wasatch Front. By DUSTIN TYLER JOYCE | URBPL 2010 | THURSDAY, 2 DECEMBER 2004

HE TITLE I HAVE GIVEN this paper may seem a little ironic, since our guest Tuesday was actually an opponent of the Wal-Mart Supercenter that has been proposed at Parrish Lane and 400 West in Centerville. But George Fisher’s presentation was perhaps the least convincing of any speaker we’ve had

as our guest—and I personally dislike Wal-Mart so much that I’ve refused to shop there for years! However, I can understand the difficulty Mr. Fisher has in arguing on Centerville’s behalf against Wal-Mart. Centerville has already ready made the case and presented itself as an ideal location—maybe the ideal location—for the newest Wal-Mart along the Wasatch Front. Centerville firmly established itself as a suburb long ago—with all the characteristics that go along with such a designation—and nothing more. More recently, the city’s government and residents reaffirmed their commitment to constructing a sprawling suburb. His presentation reflected these low aspirations. In fact, many of the suburban characteristics that Centerville exemplifies and in which Wal-Mart thrives have been twisted into the central arguments against the supercenter. For example, the idea that the city’s residents don’t need Wal-Mart because they already have Target, Shopko, Costco, Smith’s, Albertsons, and more is the definition of oxymoron. Unless each of these chains has built an atypical store in Centerville—a design which must be unique on the Wasatch Front because I’ve never seen any of these chains build anything but a suburban-style store in this area—they, too, are big boxes which were permitted and, according to the city’s recommitment to suburbanism, should continue to be allowed because that’s the lifestyle they cherish. Like so many suburban residents who try to support a weak argument, Centerville’s residents have argued against Wal-Mart because it will cause a loss of “open space.” Apparently they’ve forgotten that each of their own homes represents a loss of that open space, too. Further, they live in a community that is surrounded by mountains on the east and the Great Salt Lake on the west—permanent fixtures of open space. Finally, a field of weeds doesn’t necessarily qualify as open space, at least not as open space that is valuable to the city and is worth saving. The twenty-two acres where Wal-Mart has proposed its store is such a field, worthless and full of weeds. Suburbanites, of course, love their cars. They build their neighborhoods and their communities so that their cars are comfortable, but not bikes, buses, or even people. (Think about it: how many suburban parents would ever consider allowing their children to play in the street? After all, that’s where cars are supposed to be.) This way of building cities prevents effective and efficient mass transit, and if suburbanites are offered mass transit they consistently refuse to ride it, saying that it is ineffective and inefficient. And they love to complain about traffic. In fact, traffic is another argument they like to use in defense of weak arguments, and Centerville’s Wal-Mart is no exception. A new Wal-Mart Supercenter, they say, will cause thousands and thousands of new cars to be on their streets. They don’t mention the fact that Centerville residents will own and drive most of those cars, or the fact that such a car-centered lifestyle is the way of life they have chosen. An overloaded roads system would not be Wal-Mart’s fault; ultimately it would be the fault of every single Centerville resident who has chosen to live in such a way and in such a place. The list of weak arguments goes on. I could talk about how the city’s residents complain about their mayor and city council, and Mr. Fisher’s threats that the mayor and city council can all but give up on reelection; yet it was a majority of those same residents who obviously elected that mayor and that city council. He spoke of the need for residents to speak out on the issue; of course, there is no need to speak out on such issues when you personally—or your property values—are not affected by it. What it comes down to is this: Centerville is ripe for a Wal-Mart. And the world’s largest retailer is not simply preying on a small, weak city; rather, Wal-Mart has made itself into a company that thrives in the kind of communities most Americans have chosen to live in: sprawling, car-centered suburbs of asphalt and big box stores. That’s the kind of community Centerville is, of its own free will and choice.

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