Big Box Evaluator

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Big Box Evaluator is a resource for citizens and government officials who want to know more about the potential positive and negative impacts of “big box” retail stores on local communities. Launch Tool

In communities throughout the U.S., developers who propose to build large-format retail stores—known as “big box” stores—soon find their projects in the headlines and heated op-eds in local newspapers. Debate about the proposed projects tends to quickly break down into bitter partisan campaigns, leaving little opportunity or time for an informed public process in which people are able to assess long-term implications and envision alternative scenarios.

The Foundation is creating the Big Box Evaluator, a web-based, interactive visualization and analysis tool that allows people to assess the costs and benefits of proposed big box developments, explore and analyze alternative development scenarios and learn about model big box planning processes. The Project is helping Middlebury, Vermont, a small college town of 8,500, envision and plan alternatives for future big box proposals they believe are just around the corner.

Alongside Big Box Evaluator, Middlebury is undertaking a planning scenario exercise to develop new zoning regulations that reflect the community’s threshold criteria for future big box proposals. Working with Middlebury and other towns in the region that have already dealt with big box proposals, the Foundation is helping compile a comprehensive database to support Big Box Evaluator's analytical capability. In partnership with Placeways, the Foundation is producing visual and economic models for big box development that allow people to explore multiple growth scenarios and assess the true costs and benefits of each.

Project goals include:

  • Assisting the Town of Middlebury in planning for anticipated big box development.
  • Producing a Big Box CommunityViz template for use by other communities facing or anticipating big box development.
  • Developing a website that provides helpful information about the consequences of big boxes in different sizes and locations, thereby assisting and empowering communities in their planning for big box stores.

Project Status:

  • In October 2005, the Foundation constituted a national advisory board of experts to advise on the construction of an online Big Box Evaluator tool, which confirmed the need for such a web tool to inform citizens of options and their ability to influence change. 
  • In anticipation of a possible Wal-Mart application, Middlebury, VT passed an interim bylaw in November 2005 prohibiting retail development in excess of 50,000 square feet until the Town's zoning regulations were amended to address anticipated big box impacts.
  • From December through July of 2006 the Foundation, working with a consultant (Community Oriented Geography) and two Middlebury College project interns, built a "beta" tool for Middlebury.
  • The Foundation used the results of the Middlebury work to assist in the development of an online Big Box Evaluator website. 
  • The Big Box Evaluator online tool and website were released in October, 2007.