Walmart's impact

EDITOR:

In recent discussions of a new local Walmart, the major issue is what impact it will have on our community. People believe that the store will benefit our community with its attractive low prices and new jobs. On the other hand, it is argued that the store will damage the rural feel of this Valley and put out small businesses. This issue has troubled the community and dominated the recent letters to the editor.

For instance, a letter recently said they could not wait for Walmart to open a store locally. They found it ridiculous to pay an extra $1.50 for a box of crackers. Now that could add up to a lot of money over the long run. Then again, it is shown by a study done by the University of California, Berkeley, in 2007 that "new jobs at Walmart stores almost inevitably come at the cost of other, better paid jobs." So it will be nice for an unemployed person to save that $1.50 after they have lost their well-paying job with a small business competitor of Walmart. Maybe the writer's job is secure, but they wrote without forethought of how much this community relies on small business.

Furthermore, it has to be taken into consideration that this is a rural community. It has been built from that since the beginning. Families move to this area because of its beauty and small town feel. The massive amount of Walmart bags littered along 395 in the Carson City store's vicinity is enough to make me not want this store. And while on the subject of Carson City, doesn't everyone love the look of gigantic retail buildings as they are left vacant for years? If this Walmart doesn't work out, the last thing we want is a giant empty building sitting in what used to be beautiful land.

To summarize; this is a rural community. My family has lived in this valley for 73 years, and I am a fourth generation Carson Valley resident. I am only 17 and I can see that this is not what we need in this area. What we have here is wonderful, and those who want to depreciate the rural integrity of this valley should leave, for there are plenty of us who do appreciate it and wouldn't mind if they weren't around.

Ben Reed

Minden