Who opposes development?

As always, I am astounded at the amount of information available on the internet. Recent case and point – fellow Twitter, Patrick Fox @pffox send me a link to the New Saint Index , which tracks opposition to real estate projects.

What an amazing resource!

While landfills and casinos continue to be unpopular with neighborhoods, the opposition to WalMart has reached a tipping point where those in favor and against are almost even. (As an interesting aside, one of my favorite authors, Marc Levinson has just released a new book titled “the Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America” which covers the opposition to A&P markets which was the largest retailer in the early 1900’s)

I also appreciate how the index breaks down the demographics of each product type – like supporters for grocery stores (mostly male 21 to 45, who rent and have some college and a lower income) vs. opponents (mostly female 45 to 55, own their home, high income).