NIMBY's Warm to WalMart

According to a new survey conducted by The Saint Consulting Group, opposition to WalMart developments has fallen while malls, casinos and landfills have increased.

1 minute read

January 16, 2009, 5:00 AM PST

By Tim Halbur


"Whether America's Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) activists actually are losing enthusiasm for fighting their most-hated retail enemy isn't a sure bet, according to Patrick Fox, president of The Saint Consulting Group.

In an interview with Forbes.com, Fox cautioned against reading too much into the numbers, saying that people who support a Wal-Mart in theory can change their tune when one is actually proposed for their neighborhood.

And U.S. anti-sprawl activist Al Norman told Forbes.com that community resistance to Wal-Mart has spiked sharply, not dropped.

Landfills (78%) are the most-opposed type of local development project, followed by a casino (77%) and an aggregate quarry (62%), according to the new Saint Index©.

Fifty-nine percent of Americans say they are more likely to support new commercial projects in their hometown given the current economic situation."

Wednesday, January 14, 2009 in The Saint Report

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