Archive Dive: I'm From Walmart, New Jersey

What if the supercenter didn't *kill* the small town, but *is* the small town?

This piece was originally a recap of a piece I published at Discourse Magazine, back in 2023, based on an idea I had when I looked closely at a Walmart store map in 2022. In some ways it’s a bit contrarian from an urbanist perspective, arguing that big-box stores are a lot like an enclosed version of car-free shopping districts.

But I also make a point t…