City Council votes to allow first Chicago Wal-Mart

By HERBERT G. McCANN
The Associated Press
5/27/04 4:56 AM


CHICAGO (AP) -- The world's largest retailer is muscling into the City of Big Shoulders.

In a raucous debate, the City Council voted 32-15 Wednesday to approve the zoning changes needed for Wal-Mart to construct a 150,000-square-foot superstore in a poor, largely black and Hispanic neighborhood on the West Side.

"It's big victory for our customers," said company spokesman John Bisio.

But the council rejected a second store that Wal-Mart wanted to build in a racially diverse, largely middle-class South Side neighborhood. The vote was 25-21, just shy of the majority of the 50-member council needed to make the zoning change.

more: http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/business/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0459_BC_Wal-Mart-Chicago&&news&newsflash-financial

we are getting a walmart which has caused more people to write the local paper opposing walmart than writing saying they want it..there will be three walmarts within 10 to 15 minutes of where i live..does that make any sense? the big fight in chicago is wages and corporate responsibility to the community- they want it in writing...

in that neighborhood are happy it's coming. 250 to 300 jobs it will bring.

:shrug:

I live in a population center of 100,000 people and we are soon going to have three Wal-Marts. What's worse is that both my husband's and my mother's jobs are threatened. I have a hard time seeing how a Wal-Mart moving in is economic growth.

but hey at least they get crappy walmart jobs. I guess that's the message here. Walmart must be too good for the white neighborhoods but good enough for everyone else. The worst part is that any attempts by small businesses owned by people in that neighborhood to reinvest there will be crushed by walmart. Way to go Chicago. Its not like the city couldn't have made any special effort to encourage local businesses or get better jobs in that neighborhood. :eyes: