Big-Box Stores Come Back To The City

" In a nation with 16 square feet of retail space for every man, woman and child, there is half that in Washington, according to Delta Associates, an Alexandria research firm. By contrast, the entire Washington area has 24 square feet of retail for each resident. Statistics show a similar split in other major metropolitan areas such as Boston and Baltimore.That saturation is beginning to sour retailers' long love affair with the suburbs, with their abundance of disposable income and cheaper open land. The backlash is making stores -- particularly discount chains -- reconsider cities such as Washington, where executives are looking harder than ever for places to open."

Thanks to Congress on New Urbanism