Writer looking forward to Wal-Mart’s arrival

Re Let’s not give in on Wal-Mart issue, Letter, Nov. 13

Well Krystal you need to research and think a little more logical on this subject. If Wal-Mart already owns this land and it is zoned industrial and the town won’t rezone the land, how are we losing more industrial land? Wal-Mart can afford to sit on it for years so consider it already lost.
Another thing –  HBC, which owns Zellers, has been American owned for a few years now. Get with the times. In the last three years a lot of Canadian companies have become American owned like Molson, who brews the ever-famous Molson Canadian beer.
Listen people, Wal-Mart is not bad, it will be great to have. Then when I go shopping in Stratford I might be able to find something in stock.

Scott McAsh
Stratford

We need to continue daring to be different

Dear City Councillors:
Please don’t go back on your decision and make it easy for Wal-Mart to charge in and dramatically affect what’s dramatically different about the Stratford I chose to move to.
Years ago, when I wanted to make a lifestyle change and considered moving to Stratford, it wasn’t just the world-class theatre that captivated me, but the size and the overall ambiance of the community itself that I also found most appealing. So much was within walking and pedalling distance, both work and shopping in a beautiful downtown where merchants remember you by name. Also, I could entertain the idea of gaining freedom from the excessive expense and utter dependence on the almighty vehicle.
And yet, equally important as these motivators, there was one other compelling reason for choosing Stratford. As strange as it may seem to some, I took enormous delight in the fact that no Wal-Mart Wasteland was going to assault my senses anywhere in this most dramatically different community.
Coming from the ever burgeoning bedroom communities just east of Toronto, I have witnessed the dead and dying downtown cores of those cities that comprise Durham Region. It’s just sad! I have witnessed far too much traffic gridlock, so much of it because in these car-dependent communities one often has to drive somewhere just to grab a litre of milk.  And, I have seen enough Wal-Mart Wastelands in those communities to last me a lifetime. I passed at least five on a 25-km drive to work. So much arable land gone, it’s heartbreaking!
And when a Wal-Mart decides to leave a community and move elsewhere, it does become a wasteland. More often than not, those wastelands stand empty and idle for years, for few other retailers require or could afford such a monstrous amount of space in which to operate.
I hope we don’t let Stratford become another cookie cutter community! I, for one, don’t want to have trouble remembering what town I’m living in because it suddenly looks like so many others. Let’s be bold enough to be dramatically different because we don’t have a Wal-Mart!
Please consider this voice when you meet on Nov. 26 as the city’s planning and heritage committee to vote on the OMB motion.
Remaining ever hopeful,

Kate Schillings
Stratford

Do we really want Wal-Mart in our midst?

Re Let’s not give in on Wal-Mart issue, letter, Nov. 13

My letter to the Gazette is to commend and thank a young lady, Krystal Meadows, for her letter. As a senior, I admire the concern of the younger generation to speak out. They will be our future leaders.
About two months ago I watched a movie about Wal-Mart. In it, Wal-Mart tactics are laid out: “We will eat your city.
If anyone has questions, ask Guelph. For years it has been a battle. The hell some residents have been put through. The outcome: The residents lost because they didn’t have the financial resources to fight it. Once Wal-Mart gets its foot in the door, that is it.
In the newspaper write-up I have before me, two ex-mayors – now city councillors – voted in favour of Wal-Mart. Have they done their homework? They have endorsed “child labour.”
Here I commend Mayor Mathieson for voting to oppose Wal-Mart plus the councillors who also voted against it. Do keep track of names for those who voted for which side, and take it with you come the next municipal election.
The movie I watched mentioned that Hillary Clinton was on the board of Wal-Mart. In 1977 the London Times described this secret society as a clique of the richest economically and politically most powerful and influential men in the Eastern world, who meet secretly to plan events that later appear just to happen. So there you have it!
“We will eat your city.”
I ask, does Stratford want this in our midst? To allow Wal-Mart in “our” city is unfair to our existing retailers.
My final comments: “Yankee Go Home!”
At the special Nov. 26 meeting at City Hall, bring others with you. It should overflow, overflow, overflow. Yes we can! Do it for the children; they are the ones left behind.

Carmen Waters
Stratford

Council to serve citizens, not the big developers

Amendment 10 of the Official Plan was the work of previous city councils, thoughtfully crafted with care at taxpayers’ expense for the long-term good of Stratford. If the present council approves Avonwood’s application (Wal-Mart) to build in the east end, the worst-case scenario of previous councils will come true. With a widened C.H. Meier Boulevard, such a dense commercial area will have been created that it will feel like one is living in Toronto or any large Canadian city. People enjoy living in Stratford because it has only 30,000 people and therefore does not feel like living in Toronto. This would be called bad planning.
If Wal-Mart was located in the west or north section of the city, it would simply add another dimension to the options available and would not dramatically increase cross-town traffic to the east. This would be called good planning.
Councillors Mark, Chapman, Gaffney, Clifford, Hunt and Culliton were not elected by out-of-town developers to serve companies like Avonwood. They were elected by the people of Stratford and it is their duty as the citizens’ representatives to heed the electorate’s wishes. We’ll see if they’re capable.

Murray Scott
Stratford