Hercules California vs Wal-Mart

psst.. this has to do with Eminent Domain.

What drew me to look up the town of Hercules was a Drudge headline about Wal-Mart being a target of eminent domain. The article in the San Francisco Chronicle, makes the situation look sort of 'bait n switch'. Developer A got the go ahead to build some new urbanist style development only to sell out to Wal-Mart developing something else entirely. The town of Hercules didn't want a big box store and so offered to buy Wal-Mart out. Wal-Mart refused, preferring to build on the site.

That was interesting... so I looked up Hercules. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot explicitly 'new urbanist' on their city site. I did find it interesting that they are going to let a big box Home Depot in.. but not a Wal-Mart. Their planning however may be 'new urbanist' anyways even if there is not a lot of rhetoric. The San Fran Business Times had a little piece on it. It reads like the developer, Bixby Co. is learning about new urbanism as they go along, and liking it more n more. More can be read in the Chronicle. A quick look over of their zoning ordinance, didn't seem very... 'new urbanist'.... but what do I know....