Little Village Wants It. Lakeview Doesn’t. So Why is a Walmart Being Set-up For Lakeview?

Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood wants a Wal-Mart built in their area, East Lakeview does not want one in theirs. So who gets one? East Lakeview, of course.

Despite staunch opposition to a Wal-Mart being placed in the north lakeside neighborhood, it appears that East Lakewood is still the town Wal-Mart representatives are looking to inhabit. When the rumor began back in December one of the retail giants might be in its way, residents immediately voiced their opposition. Some even placed signs reading, “Wal-Mart: Not in My Neighborhood” on the doors of their businesses.

One restaurant owner says 80 percent of his patrons are against an area Wal-Mart. “It’s upsetting. What we’re looking at is a track record of what Wal-Mart represents.” He and other businesses know that wherever a Wal-Mart shows up, the “for sale” signs go up in the windows of the small-time competitors.

On the other side of the issue, is the Little Village/26th Street neighborhood.

Unlike East Lakeview, they would welcome a Wal-Mart, but so far feel they are not being heard, despite numerous letters to their alderman, the City Council, Mayor Daley, and now Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel.

Raul Montes Jr. believes the Little Village residents have a lot to gain from this kind of addition.

“With the economy doing so bad and the recession, Little Village could use a Wal-Mart in the area for jobs, and for making it affordable for residents to shop there,” Montes said. “Why put them all down south? Why not have them in an area that needs it? We also are part of Chicago, and we also vote, and we also have our necessities and our needs to have resources and economic development in our neighborhood.”

To support this claim is a document posted over the weekend by East Lakeview:

“Some areas of Chicago desperately need more grocery stores, retailers, and jobs. These areas would be incrementally stimulated by the addition of a Wal-Mart. Why not start there instead of taking a share of out redeveloped-but-still-fragile nighborhood pie and possibly destroying it?”

A community meeting on the East Lakeview Wal-Mart plan was scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday night at the Wellington Avenue Church, 615 W. Wellington Ave.