A rant here

[ynkeesfn82]

Okay. It's 2014. I know quite a few people who live in the Millldale/Plantsville section of Southington, Connecticut. Many of them complain that they have to either get on the highway and drive to Queen Street or drive out of town to go shopping or out to eat. It's true. There's not much in that part of the town. Here's a but and a big one at that. It didn't have to be like that. So I'm reading old newspapers and found this out.

In 1995 - The town of Southington approved a 132,000 Square Foot Walmart store to be built on the corner of Route 322 (Meriden-Waterbury Road) and Knotter Drive. - It was never built. Walmart eventually opened a much smaller store in the old Caldor on Queen Street. Finally in 2006 a Home Depot was built and opened on this property. - Yeah because a town of 40,000 residents needs 2 Home Depots in town. The other is off Queen Street Route 10.

Also in 1995 - The Town of Southington approved the building of an outlet mall on Route 322 somewhere near the proposed Walmart site. - It too was never built. (I don't know what if anything was ever built, but if something was it isn't major).

There you have it. There could've been places to shop in the Milldale section of Southington - 19 years ago.

[TheFugitive]

Some activists and NIMBY types instantaneously react negatively against any proposed Walmart store wherever
it may be.  The reasons are varied and they are many.

-"Protect Main Street" groups, often including many local merchants.
- anti-Free Trade activists who make an issue over the massive number of Chinese SKU's at Walmart.
- Environmental activists upset over various company practices (or just the fact that they exist and people burn gasoline to get to them)
- anti-Urban Sprawl activists who don't want to see one more tree cut down in the name of development.
- Labor activists upset that Walmarts are built with non-union labor and staffed with non-union employees.

That last one was a biggie when I lived in Michigan.  Walmart was seen as a threat particularly to Meijer,
a chain that used union labor and had a very loyal following amongst other union members living in the state.
I remember whenever a Walmart store was proposed the construction site would mysteriously be declared a
protected wetland.  (Michigan is basically a big pile of debris left behind by retreating glaciers.  The whole state
is a wetland.)  But once that occurred you had a multi-year battle with the state DNR on your hands before you
could get anything built.

You would hear all the other sorts of activists chiming in as well.
Of course that all served to delay Walmart, but did not keep them out permanently.