Big Box Retail
Big Boxes Going Urban
Big box retailers are continuing to target urban markets, and finding new ways to squeeze their large sizes into dense urban settings.
An Obstructionist Manifesto
In a recent speech, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown called the people who spoke out against a Bass Pro Shop "obstructionists." One of those obstructionists speaks out about the city's economic development processes, which he calls
Mixed Use Outperforms Big Box Development
Tax revenue-per-acre figures for big box developments are only slightly higher than residential developments, and not as high as mixed use project, according to this column from Mary Newsom.
Supply and Demand for Big Boxes
The market for big box spaces plunged during the recession as companies like Circuit City folded. But demand is very slightly picking up, and in some places it never went away.
Mixed-Use, V.2: Big Box Living
The Rise, a new mixed-use development in Vancouver, includes 1,500 condos, sushi restaurants, art galleries - and a Home Depot.
City Votes to Control Big Box Stores
Lynchburg, VA approved a new regulation to control big box development in their city earlier this week, despite protests that it would hurt the economy of the area.
Circuit City's Out, Grocery Stores are In
Retail Traffic Magazine reports that grocery stores are increasingly moving into the spaces vacated by big box and chain retailers.
Big Box Retail to Destroy Ancient Indian Mound
Officials in the city of Oxford, Alabama have approved the construction of a Sam's Club retail store that will use the dirt of a 1,500 year old Native American ceremonial mound as fill, arguing against reports of its historical significance.
Shopping: An ‘Obnoxious Industrial Activity’?
As James Howard Kunstler points out in Home From Nowhere, one of the tragedies of single-use zoning is that it branded shopping as an “obnoxious industrial activity that must be kept separate from houses”. Ironically, the places where most Americans shop today come pretty close to “obnoxious” and “industrial”.
Provinces Must Curb Retail Sprawl
There is a near-consensus on the deficiencies of big box retail, but municipalities don't have the will to turn them down. Provinces must step in with development guidelines, writes Christopher Hume.
Preserving Cuba's Urban Quality
As U.S.-Cuba relations evolve with a new presidential administration, author Richard Louv argues that officials should be careful about relying on commerce to save the country's decaying urban areas without preserving them.
Pro-WalMart Study Refuted
A new and widely publicized study claims that there is no evidence that Wal-Mart has had a negative impact on the small business sector. A close inspection of the study by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance argues that the report is flawed.
A Look At Big Box Reuse
This slideshow from Slate looks at how to reuse abandoned big boxes.
Big Box Retail Owners Ask For Stacked Housing
The two owners of a traditional 8-acre strip, big box retail center in San Francisco have asked for an amendment to the neighborhood plan (undergoing revision) to allow them to add housing on top of their stores, thus doubling the height limit.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
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Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
