Amazon fulfillment centers impose so many hidden costs on local economies that cities ought to reconsider welcoming them at all, much less greasing the way...
Under what has become known as the “dark store” method, big-box retailers are declaring their busy stores to be functionally obsolescent and therefore nearly worthless...
In this 1-hour webinar presentation, ILSR’s Stacy Mitchell and others present on how cities can protect and strengthen urban entrepreneurship and local businesses amid rising...
There’s an emerging model that offers a glimpse of a new, better way for communities to generate economic development. It’s called a real estate investment...
The political interests of labor and small business are often seen as pitted against each other — a perception corporate lobbyists work hard to perpetuate....
Although few cities take full advantage of them, planning and zoning powers are among the most potent tools communities have for shaping their economies. Two...
Cape Cod is the rare community that considers regional economic impacts when weighing big-box retail development, and that makes all the difference.… Read More
This toolkit provides guidance on how to block big-box development in your community, including tips on how to form an effective citizens group, fact sheets...
Handing out multimillion-dollar subsidies to large chains has become commonplace in much of the country. But when governments use public money to woo national chains,...
Big-Box Swindle was named one of the top ten business books of the year by Booklist and described by Bill McKibben as “the ultimate account...
Despite being outspent 12-to-1, a grassroots group campaigning against a plan to build a massive big-box complex in Mendocino County, California, won a decisive victory...
In a crowed public hearing room, the city council of Santa Rosa, California, soundly defeated a proposed Lowe’s store on a 5-2 vote. The vote...
The grassroots group, East Toronto Community Coalition, was awarded for its efforts when the Ontario Municipal Board rejected a developer’s plan to bring a big-box...
Abandoned big-box stores, dead and dying strip malls and empty storefronts are about to join foreclosed houses as one of the defining features of the...