Liverpool, NY. What’s Next?

Wal-Mart: What next for Liverpool? [Syracuse Post-Standard (N.Y.)]

Over the weekend, Wal-Mart announced it was giving up on plans to build a ‘Supercenter’ in Salina, just beyond the borders of Liverpool. Today’s column juxtaposes two reactions to the decision:

Mayor Marlene Ward of Liverpool, a fierce opponent of the proposal for six years, explained why she believes a Wal-Mart would have profoundly damaged her village. Liverpool is already burdened by a crush of commuter traffic, she said, the ‘Supercenter’ would have threatened many small businesses that help to give the village its identity.

Ron Ajemian, one of the owners of the commercially-zoned property on which Wal-Mart hoped to build, said Liverpool is already struggling, and that low prices at Wal-Mart would have helped the people who need it most: Families drowning in bills in a recessionary time of skyrocketing gas prices and collapsing mortgages.

Your thoughts? Was the Wal-Mart decision a victory or defeat in the northern suburbs? Is Ward right when she says Liverpool still maintains the charm of a village, and the ‘Supercenter’ would have been a damaging blow? Is Ajemian, a golf course operator, right when he says local governments have never stepped in to help when other people build nearby golf courses - and that it’s unfair for public officials to pick and choose what they support, at least when they base their opposition on local competition?

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, May 02, 2008