Letter: Retail rhetoric is all wrong

EDITOR,
A recently published letter talked about all the empty rhetoric concerning the Target store. I also believe that using facts is a better way to make decisions on our growth.
The rhetoric most often used by proponents of big retail in Scotts Valley is that it will help the city financially. For proof of this, I went online and found an interesting comparison between Gilroy and Scotts Valley.
Gilroy has already done what some here have suggested, by building a large, popular retail space called the Premium Outlets. For comparison, it has approximately 3.8 times more space than the Target. The only pertinent difference I could find was that Santa Clara County has nearly a 37 percent higher household income than Santa Cruz County, according to the 2000 census.
So, what did I find? The big picture is Gilroy is having just as many, if not more, financial problems than us. They even talked about closing a firehouse recently, and their original downtown is suffering because of the outlets. Please go onto the Web for all the details.
And please don’t use the tired old rhetoric that big retail will help us financially. The facts just don’t seem to verify that. Instead, let’s try something original, like living within our means.