A study just published in Economic Development Quarterly documents the geographical destruction on local businesses wrought by a new Walmart store, and raises questions about its long-term impact on sales tax revenues, reports Nate Berg.
The study, authored by a team led by University of Illinois Chicago economics professor Joe Persky, looked at the effect of the opening of a Walmart store on existing businesses and found a direct geographic correlation with rates of closure.
"No matter which direction you go from Walmart, there's a very high rate
of business closures in the immediate vicinity, and the further away
you get there's less and less," says Persky. According to Berg, "Persky and his colleagues found that for every mile closer to the
Walmart, 6 percent more stores closed. Close in around the store's
location, between 35 and 60 percent of stores closed."
"The research also shows that during the study period, from 2006 to 2008,
overall sales tax revenues went down in the two ZIP codes closest to or
encompassing the Walmart," notes Berg.
Granted the study only focused on the effect of one Walmart store, located in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago's West side. It also failed to "include any data on stores that opened during the 2006 to 2008 period, just those that closed."
"Walmart disputes these findings and argues that its stores are magnets for both growth and economic development," says Berg.
FULL STORY: Radiating Death: How Walmart Displaces Nearby Small Businesses
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
How Urban Form Impacts Housing Affordability
The way we design cities affects housing costs differently than you might think.
The State of E-Scooters in the US
Eight years after shared e-scooters were first introduced in US cities, the industry still teeters on the edge of success, hindered in part by limited infrastructure.
Rochester Shows Possible Future for Former Highways
A former freeway is undergoing a massive redevelopment that goes beyond highway removal to reconnect and revitalize surrounding areas.
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
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.