Driving eastward on Clinton Street from downtown Buffalo towards Attica, you pass through South Buffalo, Lackawanna, West Seneca, Lancaster and eventually come to Cowlesville, a very small rural community—so small, in fact, you might miss it if you happen to sneeze.

Full of cornfields, Cowlesville would have years ago been called a one-horse town. Today it’s a one-traffic-light town, just a breezeway on the road to somewhere else. But don’t tell that to the folks who live there. They cherish the solitude country living brings.

In the heart of greater downtown Cowlesville, just after the Pine Lounge (good beer and Friday night fish fry), hang a left onto County Line Road, climb the amazingly steep, twisting hill, go past the cemetery and continue driving north. After passing some comfortable rural dwellings you’ll be greeted—just beyond Dersam Road, at the top of the hill directly across from the Alden Rod and Gun Club—by a quaint little handmade sign. Upon that sign, as others like it also posted on the outskirts of town, is proudly painted “Alden, New York—Smalltown, USA.”

Alden indeed exemplifies the qualities of small town American life: local businesses owned by local personalities—Henry’s Candies (Paul L. Henry), La Paloma Restaurant (The DiChristina family), Current Hair Fashions (The Currents) and Creighton Optical, to name just a few.

Historically Alden was founded around the therapeutic effects of its black water baths. Agriculture also played a major role. There’s still ample farmland, if fewer farms: the Oles’ family on north County Line Road, who still harvest and hawk locally grown produce; the Foss family (livestock); and Mr. Dillenger, the old fella out on Broadway past Tops Friendly Markets, a retiree who sells corn seasonally at his little roadside stand.

There are countless other locally owned and operated businesses, many of which do a respectable trade. This article could go on and on archiving Alden’s various businesses in effort to set the record straight, to keep tabs on what was what and where. Such an effort would likely take a day and a piece. Then again perhaps this column should attempt to curate—like a museum—the homegrown merchants of Alden, New York. You see, Wal-Mart wants to come to town.

One wonders if small towns like Alden are becoming dinosaurs—an odious link, a hindrance to inevitable prosperity and change, the barrier between past and future, a predecessor to the fossil that will bear testament to a lifestyle long gone. This modernity, for lack of a better word—strip malls and plaza parking—has been part and parcel of suburban development for at least the last 30 years. This developmental trend shows little sign of abating. (Have a look at Lancaster, just down the road). This relentless, sprawling suburban development is now setting its steam-shovel sights on Alden.

There are many aspects to this still as yet proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter development one could seriously research: the environmental impact (the installation of the leech field and sanitation system required and how this would affect the surrounding fauna and flora); the social impact (a veritable bonanza of new—albeit lucratively questionable—jobs that would be created for both the immediate residents and the folks living in the surrounding townships); and the political angle (for example, how such developmental decisions are made, by whom, and how big a role a small township’s citizenry have in such decision-making). These and other considerations all warrant greater scrutiny and beg the attention of not only the 10,000 residents of Alden, but of Americans in general.

Enter Alden Residents for Responsible Growth (ARRG), a grassroots organization co-founded by Paul Pawlak in the summer of 2006. ARRG boasts to date approximately 800 members, all people who are concerned about the impact a Wal-Mart Supercenter could have in Alden. Paul has a vested interest in the Wal-Mart project; his +land borders the proposed 94-acre development site (64 acres sans 30 acres of so-called “wetlands”) on Sandridge Road near Four Rod. But it is more than just the people who live around the proposed development who are getting involved; active ARRG members live throughout the entire township of Alden. Clearly, then, the proposed Wal-Mart development in Alden is not merely a NIMBY (not-in-my-back-yard) issue.

Speaking to Mr. Pawlak the other day on the phone, he pointed out many interesting facts. For instance, the area to be developed is only three or four acres smaller than the entire Walden Galleria Mall complex. Of the 94 acres to be developed, 25 of those would be a Wal-Mart Supercenter. The remainder of the area would be an incredibly large parking lot and other shop space. These storefront spaces would be leased, presumably, to other businesses. Wal-Mart would not allow these “other businesses” to offer the same or similar services as they would. So one might ask: How many pizzerias, fast food restaurants and video stores do the 10,000 residents of Alden need?

Environmental concerns

Pawlak asserts the main reason he and ARRG are fighting the Wal-Mart development plan is environmental. According to the research conducted by ARRG members, Alden is located atop a glacial aquifer. This aquifer is one of three in New York and was deemed important enough by the United States Geological Survey for a proper study of the aquifer to be undertaken (for info regarding this study, visit http://ny.water.usgs.gov/pubs/wri/wri964229/). The actual proposed Wal-Mart construction site is on one of the aquifer’s main recharging stations, an area where the water table is at, or near, the surface of the earth. This recharging station is the area where water returns to the aquifer after having been filtered naturally. If Wal-Mart were to get the go-ahead to start building, a septic system and leech field comprising 5.8 acres would be needed to handle the shopping facility’s wastewater. To use the same amount of water required per day, Mr. Pawlak and his neighbors would have to flush their own toilets over 1,000 times every day. A completely all-natural recharging station would, then, have been replaced by a massive sewage treatment field, not merely just altering the ecosystem but also fundamentally changing the consumption of water in the town of Alden itself.

In addition to this sharp increase in water consumption and the amount of sewage that would need to be treated, one could consider other forms of pollution as well. A 94-acre shopping plaza off Sandridge Road on Broadway would bring a gaggle of bargain hunters and shoppers. Presuming sidewalks will not be included in the development plan (the proposed Wal-Mart is too far out of town for people living in the village of Alden to walk there), nearly all the shoppers visiting the proposed Alden Wal-Mart would drive. This increased vehicular traffic would bring with it both air and noise pollution. Add to that litter which is discarded from car windows or left by people who don’t live in the town of Alden (and therefore don’t have a vested interest in keeping the town clean) and suddenly there is an utterly new paradigm of human consumptive activity the ecosystem will have to deal with. To put it mildly the abundant tranquility of the old Martin farm (the proposed construction site) would be drastically changed forever. A more sobering assessment plainly says the surrounding landscape would be spoilt.

With regard to air and noise pollution, it should also be pointed out that Wal-Martt has a nationally known policy of encouraging overnight campers to spend the night free of charge in the retailer’s enormous parking lots. Known as “boondocking,” some of these campers not only save on campground fees but also empty their “gray water” down catch basins (meant for storm water runoff) and keep local police busy following up on petty and not so petty crimes. The Town of Alden is just 10 minutes from Six Flags Darien Lake, a major provider of camping facilities.

And that brings us to ARRG’s other concern: preserving the quaint Smalltown, USA aspect of Alden. Love it or hate it, no one can argue that one of the very reasons people move to rural communities is to escape the hectic bustle of the city or the concrete blandness of suburbia. Pure sweet air, star-studded evening skies unhindered by fluorescent lights, fauna prancing about on the first frost of the season—these phenomena are the treasures of country living. (This concern was recently summarized well by Maureen and Al Hassenbohler, other area residents who live a stone’s throw from the proposed development zone. To read Hassenbohler’s thoughts on the proposed Wal-Mart development in Alden, visit www.savealden.blogspot.com.)

Socio-economic concerns

The social ramifications of a Wal-Mart Supercenter being installed in any rural community are enormous. Developers often espouse job creation as one of the biggest strengths of shopping plaza construction. But what kind of jobs are actually created? Very few people working in retail grow rich—only the owners and upper echelon of management. Those people employed in McJobs earn the base minimum wage, certainly not a bad thing if you are a teenager who needs spending cash for the weekend. Wal-Mart—and to be fair, other large retailers like it—doesn’t offer much in the way of benefit packages, paid holidays or healthcare. So if retirees are looking for a little extra money to augment their pensions, Wal-Mart might be a solution. Households cannot however be supported by fulltime Wal-Mart earnings. The argument that Wal-Mart brings jobs to town is a thin one: Yes, the retailer creates jobs, but certainly not highly skilled positions that either pay well or provide a decent standard of living upon which to build a family.

When examining the socio-economic angle of the proposed Alden Wal-Mart development plan, one is forced to think about the impact such a Supercenter—one single megalithic market that is capable of supplying broad spectrum common consumer needs—would have on local businesses. In Alden there is the locally owned Creighton Optical; Wal-Mart Supercenters offer optical services. There is also a Tops Friendly Markets, a local grocer that opened in Niagara Falls, New York in the 1920s and is now owned by a Dutch conglomerate; Wal-Mart Supercenters offer supermarket goods. Gillens Expert Auto, across the street from the proposed development, a collision and auto repair shop, provides not only the owner, Earl, with his livelihood but also employs his wife and two of the owner’s brothers. Wal-Mart also boasts an auto repair shop. There’s also a Napa Auto Parts; Wal-Mart offers a range of basic auto necessities (oil and filters, for example). Lastly, there is the Alden Pharmacy, also locally owned. Wal-mart, too, offers pharmaceuticals.

Some might say large retailers bring a higher level of competition that benefits local consumers, vis-à-vis price wars. Wal-Mart’s sheer size and access to and influence over its suppliers, however, allow the retailer to artificially undercut prices. For a time, Wal-Mart could offer loss leaders in order to usurp business from local merchants. Wal-Mart supporters might further argue that this is the natural functioning mechanism of competitive consumer capitalism. Such proponents of pure neo-liberal theory would be right. But there is a much more palpable effect in the real world: Local merchants go out of business simply because they cannot compete. There then exists no competition to Wal-Mart, and the retailer is left to charge whatever it wishes for its goods. In such scenarios, Wal-Mart—in the long run—subverts the necessary mechanism of competition so central to healthy capitalist systems.

It’s small wonder Wal-Mart sets up shop in rural communities.

Much of the social-economic aspects alluded to here are succinctly summed up in Robert Greenwald’s poignant 2005 documentary Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. Anyone interested in Wal-Mart development in general—and the proposed Alden Wal-Mart development in particular—should take the time to watch Greenwald’s documentary and at least consider the postulations he presents. The case is engaging.

In addition to the Greenwald documentary, excellent information can also be found in the documentaries Independent America and Frontline: Is Wal-Mart Good for America? (available for viewing on-line at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/view/). Those interested in what locally owned businesses offer communities versus what mega-retailers offer, visit http://www.bigboxtoolkit.com.

Political impact

The political aspect of the Alden Wal-Mart proposal is ongoing. As already mentioned, Paul Pawlak and the 800+ ARRG members are actively voicing their opinions against the development plan. They have staged photo-ops at the old Ames shopping plaza on Route 20 in the center of town in effort to lure retailer alternatives. Sans the post office, the old plaza is essentially vacant. At the photo-op ARRG members proclaimed, “We have money, we love to spend it,” a sort of rallying cry requesting that Western New York businesses come to Alden and develop the old, nearly empty shopping plaza. Indeed, why is it not being suggested Wal-Mart develop the old Alden-Ames plaza with a Wal-Mart Minicenter? Clearly Wal-Mart doesn’t offer quaint little shopping centers that fit naturally into rural landscapes—only overgrown behemoths. The Supercenter is the model by which one corporation can dominate the entire retail landscape.

ARRG members also attend zoning and town planning meetings. According to Paul nearly no one went to town development meetings prior to ARRG’s attendance. In short, Aldenites are getting involved. As previously stated, there is also a blog documenting the progress of the development and the resistance to it (www.savealden.blogspot.com). Measuring the political impact, one could conclude it has so far been positive. For there is one primary consequence anytime citizens become active in the decision-making process within their communities: the emergence of democratic activism.

To that end Alden could hold a referendum—albeit non-binding—on the Wal-Mart issue. Such a proposal seems sound: Let the town residents weigh in yea or nay on the Wal-Mart issue. The Alden Town Council could then make its decision according to the outcome of the vote. Healthy democratic systems, however, require an informed constituency. While 800+ Alden residents have done their homework and made an informed decision weighing both the pros (low prices and convenient shopping) and cons (detrimental environmental impact, single retailer market dominance, low-paying jobs) a Wal-Mart in Alden would bring, a vast majority of Alden residents have still barely considered how such a real estate/retail development will affect the town for years to come. Still, a referendum might bring the town council closer to a decision that would reflect the voting body.

But before such a referendum is held, one might consider the following: There are already two Wal-Marts within commuter distance of the proposed Alden site. The first is Wal-Mart Supercenter Store #2355 at 5033 Transit Road in Clarence. This location is approximately 10 miles from the proposed Alden site. The second Wal-Mart currently in operation within a stone’s throw of Alden is Store #2586 at 100 Thruway Plaza in Cheektowaga. This Wal-Mart is approximately 13 miles from the proposed Alden site. In addition to these two stores there is a third Wal-Mart proposal still under consideration for the corner of William and Transit Road, merely nine miles away. Batavia, also just down the road from Alden, already has a thriving Wal-mart currently in operation.

How much is enough?

How many Wal-Marts within reasonable shopping distance of Anywhere, USA are required to make our lives more comfortable, and at what cost? If Wal-Mart does set up shop in Alden then the answer to the question that birthed Alden Residents for Responsible Growth will be abundantly clear. Yet another Smalltown, USA, with its plethora of naturally attractive rural amenities, would become another fossilized specimen alive only in memory. Here’s hoping that day is not already resolved to inevitability.

Coleen Czechowski and Mike Colson also contributed to this article.