A City Reconnected
August 17, 2026
Why Broadway was worth protecting
Jim opposed a proposed 154,000-square-foot Walmart on Broadway because it did not fit the corridor’s direction.
In 2014, a 154,000-square-foot Walmart was proposed for a vacant cannery site on Broadway near the Fox River.
Broadway was not an empty stretch of land. Wisconsin Public Radio reported that the City had spent years working to revitalize the corridor with small businesses and condominiums, alongside more than $150 million in recent community investment downtown.
Jim Schmitt opposed the proposal. The question was not whether Green Bay should welcome jobs or investment. It was whether this particular project fit the direction the community had been building on Broadway.
That distinction still matters. Good economic development is not simply about saying yes to the largest proposal. It is about choosing investments that strengthen the places people already value.
Why this still matters
Economic development should strengthen the places Green Bay residents already value.