Politics from the Palouse to Puget Sound

Saturday, June 03, 2006

"Retail leakage hurts Pullman"

Great letter on today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

The article on retail leakage (Daily News, May 27 & 28) should be enlightening for the people of Whitman County and in particular, Pullman.

I think we all would agree with Robert Greene that Washington laws could become more business friendly. However, due to the growth of the surrounding areas we also need to stop the retail leakage that heads to Moscow so we can support services and infrastructure for the area.

I think it is very wrong for the people and businesses of Moscow to say they think Pullman and Whitman County shouldn’t allow large retail operations. We need the sales tax to support our growing infrastructure. It is really a case of fear – the fear of less retail traffic in Moscow that is putting up obstacles to the growth of Pullman and Whitman County.

People do put their money where their mouth is, and in this case Pullman and Whitman County recognize they need to stop the leakage before we can no longer provide vital services such as police, fire, and street repair. If Pullman continues to just rely on downtown growth and development we are all going to pay for it with higher property taxes.

I do have two questions. If Bob Greene, as a resident of Pullman, is concerned with Pullman’s development and thinks it should be concentrated on downtown development, how come his business is located in Moscow?

What exactly would it take to get BookPeople in Pullman?

Victoria Dehlbom, Pullman
Robert Greene was also mentioned in today's Daily News as one of the people appealing the Conditional Use Permit issued to New Saint Andrew's College in Moscow. Busy guy.

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1 comment:

April E. Coggins said...

I loved this letter!
This hits the nail squarely on the head: "It is really a case of fear – the fear of less retail traffic in Moscow that is putting up obstacles to the growth of Pullman and Whitman County."

It's not the environment, it's not fair wages, it's not quality of life. Moscow is dumb struck with fear that they are going to lose the retail dominance that they have assumed would be their's forever.