Retail vs. E-Tail

Editor Ruth Knack, AICP, made her first online purchase last year (a laptop computer), along with millions of other people - to the dismay of traditional retailers. The growth of "e-tail" has both mall developers and shopkeepers, and the local governments that depend on their sales taxes, running scared. After all, local governments have for decades looked to retail development as a panacea. Overambitious zoning maps designated huge tracts for commercial use - land that's now often empty or filled with abandoned buildings. A big change in shopping habits would make it harder to fill the excess. Ruth Knack is the executive editor of Planning.