Wal-Mart - Not in Our Neighborhood

submitted by Tom Linehan

Area residents don't want Wal-Mart as an anchor tenant in the planned Northcross redevelopment according to our online survey. Of the 260 responses, 69% or 180 people are against it, 17% (45 people) are for it, and 13.5% (35 people) are undecided. (Click on image to see full graph). 
 

Here's a link to the full results (when the image appears, click on it to enlarge). The following are links to the "Other" responses for Questions two, three, and four.

The purpose of the survey was to get an idea of what residents thought about Lincoln Properties' plans for the redevelopment of Northcross Mall which includes a 2-story Wal-Mart.

Judging from what we heard at last week's meeting with Lincoln Properties and Wal-Mart representatives at Covenant church people are against it, but we wanted to find out if that sentiment was shared by others in the neighborhood.

Clearly there are limitations to our survey methodology, the most obvious is you had to take it online. We chose this method because of the time, money, and effort it would take to prepare and distribute a printed survey.

We also received a complaint that the period of time people had to respond to the survey was too short. We put it up on the web site and announced it in the Allandale listserv last Sunday, 11.19.06 and took it down on Wednesday, 11.22.06. Again, our intent was to get a quick idea on where people stand. Remember, there's not a whole lot of time before construction gets underway on the project.  Plans are to  start on the redevelopment the first part of January.

I encourage you to read the complete results including the comments. There are a number of good points pro and con.

Comments

[John Keohane]

Thanks for the information from the survey. 69% voted against Wal-Mart. As I recall, that's the same percentage that Gov. Perry (39%) and his closest opponent, Chris Bell (30%) got together.

What now? I'm not sure. I do not know if anything can stop Wal-Mart coming, but I do think that I do know that nothing will stop Wal-Mart if volunteers do not research the
law, and organize. I learned that in my 9 1/2 months as zoning chair here in Allandale. I don't know Paige Hill, but her announcement of a Thursday meeting was posted on the Allandale yahoo list. I think it at least worthy to post it below.

--John Keohane
Former Zoning Chair and former board member, Allandale Neighborhood Association
(512) 371-3853
keohane@prodigy.net

Following is Paige Hill's posting:

Neighbors,

You've been asking, here it comes! Please help us spread the word
that 7pm this Thursday, November 30th, at Grace Chruch of the Nazarene
is a multi-neighborhood forum and call to action against the Wal*Mart
proposed for Northcross Mall.

That area could be so much more! The local businesses in the area can
be preserved and supported while at the same time bringing new
responsible retailers that offer some more of the services we need.

Fliers for you to share with your neighbors are available at Zingers
Hardware (Shopping center at Anderson and Burnet). Please pick some
up and deliver them to neighbors on your block so we can raise awareness!

If you would like an electronic copy to print and distribute, let us
know (info@responsiblegrowthfornorthcross.org).

To be most effective, the fliers should go out today (Monday) and
tomorrow. The "all hands on deck" meeting is this Thursday!

It's not over. We can all still impact what development occurs in our
neighborhood, and we can do it together!

In coming days you will also find more information at
www.responsiblegrowthfornorthcross.org.

Spread the word!

Regards,
-paige hill

Responsible Growth for Northcross
"Grow it Great!"