Resources

Online Resources:

• Big Box Tool Kit
• New Rules
• www.sprawl-busters.com
• www.bigboxswindle.com
• www.independentamerica.net
• Please check out: Big Box Mart

Local Resources:

• Petaluma Tomorrow
• Petaluman’s For Responsible Planning
• Greenbelt Alliance
• Sustainable Sonoma
• Project Map for East Washington Place (original proposal)

Related Studies:

San Francisco Retail Diversity Study
San Francisco may be a city filled with global businesses, major department stores and sprawling malls. But it’s also a town where shoppers are surprisingly loyal to the corner store. The study was commissioned by the San Francisco Locally Owned Merchants Alliance along with support from the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association and the American Booksellers Association. Civic Economics, the research company that conducted the survey over two years, had previously researched the economic impact of local businesses in Austin, Tex. and Chicago, but the San Francisco study is the largest of its kind.

The Andersonville Study
The study was conducted by Civic Economics of Austin and Chicago in cooperation with the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce and the Andersonville Development Corporation. Civic Economics found that local merchants generate substantially greater economic impact than chain firms and that “replacement of local businesses with chains will reduce the overall vigor of the local economy.”

Self Reliance’s Maine Study
“In an effort to bring additional information to bear on the discussion, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance worked with Friends of Midcoast Maine, a regional grassroots organization supporting smart growth, to examine the economic impact of locally owned businesses in the Midcoast region and to compare this with the economic contributions of a typical big box retailer. ”

Better Projects:

The Green Exchange
“Business is increasingly going green. In the U.S., Europe and around the globe, organizations are realizing what it is to be both successful and sustainable. Green Exchange moves the green marketplace from niche to mainstream. Its mission is to further the new green economy, serving people, planet and profit.” This project is PROOF that we can ask for more of developers.

Advertisement