Big Box stores adopting urban formats

They're getting better and better at infiltrating the urban environment. The stores have figured out a format to be profitable because though start-up costs are much higher, urban stores generate more revenue.

Actually, I wouldn't mind if traditional big boxes fit their aesthetics to be less intrusive in urban settings. What I worry about is that corporations say that they have community benefits in mind, but then get away with not doing so, and that they displace local merchants. What if there are no local merchants? It takes a pretty savvy and persistent city manager to be close to the project to make sure the aesthetic, functional, and economic benefits are fulfilled.

(A City planning in White Plains, NY, once told me that the developers of a mall near the train station had originally proposed pedestrian accessibility, but in fact, he has to enter the mall through the parking garage. There's actually no other obvious outlet from the street, and especially from the train station.)