Civic Stadium (Portland, Eugene: neighborhood, buying, wages)

[grog225]

Does anybody know how to get involved in the effort to have the Y or a soccer team take over Civic Stadium? I'd like to get more involved in that...

I think having a Fred Myers there would devastate that neighborhood as well as drain the local businesses on Willamette.

And, as a resident of Eugene, the effect of big box stores on communities is negative. We already have enough to serve our needs. People will say that Fred Myers will bring in new jobs, but the facts are that big box stores tend to have a negative overall impact on jobs due to the effects on local businesses. Also, they put a downward pressure on local wages since everybody has to try to compete with them. This is probably more true of Wal-Mart, but I'm sure about the same with Fred Myers or most other big box stores (I guess Costco is an exception, offering decent pay).

Any thoughts?

[1208]

Hey Eric, I'll call you to tell you that you're a pathetic putz.

to answer the question, Save Civic Stadium

[pezheadave]

you are a loser!

[haggardhouseelf]

Email Kitty. I think she wants to see that happen, too. (The Y at CS). Not 100% on that but for some reason I was thinking that she was wanting that to happen.

I have emailed her in the past and she actually responded! I also ran into her shopping one afternoon. She's actually a really nice and personable lady.

I feel differently about the effect big box stores have on communities, though. I do feel the Y is a better fit for Civic, but I am upset that they ran Whole Foods out of town. Eugene is not (bigger) business-friendly and that is why it is so hard for people to find jobs here. Super easy to open up a coffee shack or boutique somewhere... but try to bring in a company that can actually hire people and contribute tax dollars and Eugene puts up roadblocks. I don't understand it at all.

[grog225]

I agree with you about Kitty, of course. I think she knows where I am on this issue. I don't agree with your take on big box retail stores for the very reason that 1) they actually cause a net decrease in jobs, 2) they erode local wages, 3) for reasons 1 and 2, they don't necessarily increase the tax base. Those are commonly held assumptions that aren't actually supported by the data. Here's an interesting site on this:

Key Studies on Wal-Mart and Big-Box Retail | The New Rules Project

[grog225]

I ran out of time on that last post:

We had Whole Foods in Albuquerque, and yes, it is a great store, but I wouldn't say that it is that much better than Market of Choice. The advantages of MoC are that it is local and buys lots of locally produced products and produce. The ripple effect of a MoC in the community then is much larger than a Whole Foods, which wasn't that good about buying locally. And besides MoC we have Sundance which can fill in where MoC lacks in vegan and vegetarian offerings. A Whole Foods in the community could be potentially devastating for the local economy when you consider the chain of impact it would have.

Fred Meyer on the civic stadium spot, which we agree on, but in case anyone else reads this, is really a horrible idea. First, the neighborhood streets really can't sustain the kind of constant traffic that it would bring in. Civic Stadium had events that drew a lot of people, but big boxes bring in a constant flow. Second, the tranquility of that whole area would be affected, it is right next to Amazon and jogging/bike trails, very nice area. I think that would be a huge negative. Not to mention (I'll make this #3) the tranquility of the surrounding neighborhood. 4) and this one should be the one key factor that sinks Fred Meyer at that location: the fragility of the local businesses on Willammette, including Capella's, MoC, Down to Earth, True Value of Eugene, etc. Those businesses do much more for the local economy than a Fred Meyer would. Any consideration of this project, should include an economic forecast on the impact that it would have on these businesses which are as much as twice as important to our economy as Fred Meyer.

[haggardhouseelf]

I worked at one of the original Whole Foods stores in Texas for over 10 years. I was there when they switched over from being privately owned to the publicly traded company it is now. I keep tabs on the company because I have vested interest in it. They do buy local and support local producers, regardless of what the media or anyone tries to spin. Also, their quality of standards is higher and more stringent than Market of Choice. I love Market of Choice and I shop there now two to three times a week, most of the cashiers at my favorite location know me by name, but there are still things I stock up on at Whole Foods when we go to Portland about once a month or so. A lot of people compare Market of Choice to Whole Foods and rightly so - on appearances they are very similar (MoC was desgiend that way, they actually had people go down to Texas to study Whole Foods stores when they were coming up with the designs for the Eugene stores). But they are not the same. I don't know why we couldn't have both. At least one Whole Foods. (Pretty please? Save me some gas money? ) People will still love their local-family-owned Market of Choice and shop there, too.

I agree Fred Meyer would be devastating to that area in that location.

[grog225]

I'm not against Whole Foods, but I would still argue that MoC plays a much larger role in the local economy than WF would. Here's an article, somewhat dated, but making much of the point I would:

The dark secrets of Whole Foods - By Field Maloney - Slate Magazine

I might have overstated the "devastating" part. I missed WF at first, but overall I'm over it now.