It does not take a degree in economics to understand that the interests of corporate shareholders work directly against building local wealth. Yet, somehow, corporations were able to convince political leaders that with the birth of globalization, “there is no alternative” to ceding to the public policy demands of corporate capitalism. What’s baffling in a city that is branded as progressive is how many elected politicians line up to incentivize corporate interests over community interests.

The purpose of this article is to challenge the notion that “There Is No Alternative” to economic development other than to prop up the broken system of predatory capitalism that widens the wealth gap at the expense of taxpayers. Shifting public investments from corporate capitalism to community capitalism is possible but in Portland, at this moment in time, it requires our elected officials to put the neighborhoods and districts they were elected to represent ahead of the basketball ticket perks that come with their job.

Using data to drive a “there is no alternative” agenda, we are forced to believe that improving our economy is only obtainable by subsidizing corporations, shifting social and infrastructure burden from corporations to taxpayers, and reducing corporate regulatory and tax barriers. In other words, the local equivalent of Reaganomics at its finest.

It may be easy for us to see that the detrimental impact of consolidating retail power at the national level but it is important to zoom into the hyperlocal context to see how the loss of a one-stop shopping store closure harms a neighborhood economy. Let’s imagine if the city invested resources similar to those invested downtown to offset an anchor store closure in an already disenfranchised neighborhood. Let’s imagine if we had a vision for economic and social equity and the political will to carry it out.

Decades later, we are still in need of a new approach to community development. An approach grounded in systems rather silos and focused on rebuilding at the local economic level. Like the town of my childhood, there are too many local economies that are hollowed out factories that remain empty. Community leaders face a choice, let industrial decay (literal or figurative) become a photojournalism project or invest in designing and implementing hyperlocal strategies that concurrently build connections between people, recapture local economies, and expand civic pride.