Wal-Mart vs. Nothing?

As living wage activists and big box developers, like Wal-Mart, clash in economically depressed urban areas like Hartford, many hope that city officials will do the right thing.

1 minute read

November 26, 2003, 7:00 AM PST

By Connie Chung

"Having plundered America's countryside and suburbs for decades, Wal-Mart is now setting its sights on unfamiliar urban territory: a grassy lot in Hartford, Connecticut. But as the mega-corporation expands out of America's conservative strongholds, it must contend with a phenomenon it hasn't previously encountered--an opposition armed with a living-wage ordinance....Wal-Mart has not sought a property tax break in Hartford, but the city's housing authority owns the meadow where the store will sit. And the living-wage ordinance covers real estate deals....It is a natural campaign to launch, because the unions and community groups advancing living-wage ordinances are usually part of the same crowd that opposes construction of new Wal-Mart stores."

Thanks to Connie Chung

FULL STORY: Wal-Mart's Big City Blues

Monday, November 24, 2003 in The Nation

Community / Economic Development Connecticut

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