[Vision2020] The Future

[Mark Solomon]

It also helps to have your Senator chair the Appropriations committee.

m.

At 1:02 PM -0700 7/6/05, Phil Nisbet wrote:
>Chris and Andreas
>
>This is exactly the debate I was hoping to see when I first posted 
>to the subject.
>
>We all know that the U of I needs to have a focus on being able to 
>get and hold grant generating programs.  I think that Chris's point 
>is that growth in Fairbanks has benefited from getting exactly those 
>kinds of programs and that those in turn have lead to use of 
>brownfields area being redeveloped into retail space.  Big Boxes for 
>the sake of Big Boxes are no salvation and Andreas is correct that 
>we can not have a stable economy here based on retail, especially 
>retail that is not locally based.
>
>So what programs can we work to see move in and how can we as a 
>community make the area more business friendly for the kinds of 
>development we want to see in the future?
>
>For that matter, what are acceptable developments in things like 
>light manufactuing or particular industries that we would want to 
>see drawn here?
>
>Phil Nisbet
>
>>From: Andreas Schou <ophite at gmail.com>
>>Reply-To: Andreas Schou <ophite at gmail.com>
>>To: Chris Storhok <cstorhok at co.fairbanks.ak.us>
>>CC: Mark Seman <FCS at moscow.com>, Phil Nisbet 
>><pcnisbet1 at hotmail.com>, vision2020 at moscow.com
>>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] The Future
>>Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2005 16:23:28 -0700
>>
>>Chris --
>>
>>Though not all big-box stores are drains on the economy -- CostCo and
>>Bed, Bath, and Beyond are good examples -- some big-box development
>>demonstrably has negative effects on local economies, especially small
>>economies. Retail pays less and has fewer benefits than any sector of
>>the economy than food service.
>>
>>We cannot compete with Spokane as a nexus for big-box development. Any
>>attempt to do so w idiocy -- we don't have the population base to
>>support it. Unless we bring in more shoppers from outside Moscow --
>>and we don't have any coherent plan to do so -- the only town that
>>will show any net economic benefit from another Wal-Mart is
>>Bentonville, AR. We cannot have an economy that cannibalizes itself:
>>fewer, lower-paying jobs replacing local retail* will simply Hoover
>>money out of the local economy -- and that's not even including the
>>bribes in tax write-offs it would require to make them come.
>>
>>Retail cannot save Latah county. Relying on retail is a sucker's bet.
>>
>>-- ACS
>
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