Don’t look now, but the state of Vermont has been placed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s list of “endangered historic places.” I’m sure you can guess what the threat is: Wal-Mart.
Trust President Richard Moe said Wal-Mart planned to “saturate” Vermont — known for its quaint villages, winding back roads and strong sense of community — with seven new “Super Stores.”
These stores, said Moe, would spur more development, sprawl and lead to disinvestment in historic downtown areas and a loss of locally owned business.
In Vermont, Moe said there were currently four Wal-Mart Stores amounting to about 300,000 square feet of space and the company proposed quadrupling this to at least 1.3 million square feet in seven new stores.
Instead of addressing the obvious, I will ask these questions:
1. Is there any village in the country that isn’t “quaint?” And does Wal-Mart usually build in the middle of the “quaint” villages?
2. Does any state have back roads that are straight? Will Wal-Mart make the “back roads” any less “back” or “winding?” I would think Wal-Marts would enhance the “back”-ness and “winding”-ness of the roads.
3. Is community really a sense? And does Wal-Mart harm the sense of community, if there is such a thing? Almost every time I visit Wal-Mart I see people I know, and often many people I know. And even if I don’t see people I know, I do see people that I know are from my community.
4. Where are the communities that don’t have a sense of community, and should all the Wal-Marts be built there?
5. Is Vermont really a “place?”
You would think that Wal-Mart is planning to quadruple by 1.3 million square miles, not square feet, judging from the panic attack.
