Detriot doesnt have food????

[He Man]

http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/06/news/economy/detroit_food/index.htm?postversion=2009080610

what?

[Duck-Stew]

Poorer neighborhoods have long had a problem with getting major grocery chains to build stores (they don't due to crime, vandalism, etc) there.  Then, to get the food to the areas inhabitants, they must either drive to major chain grocery stores or go to the local stores (as the story indicates).  Smaller stores = higher prices and they're already in a poor neighborhood so it just becomes a vicious circle.

Sad but true...

[Pakhan]

A vicious cycle the people living in those neighborhoods perpetuate.

[r_ciao]

major grocery chains limit their investments and liability in lower income areas
groceries leave the store
but are often not paid for

i've seen it first hand

[Grampa]

it's my fault

[ducatiz]

just wall it in and make it a maximum security prison.   throw kurt russell in for laffs too.

[cbartlett419]

it's my fault

go put your nose in the corner, a minute a year is the rule so that's like an hour and half for you huh BP

[rgramjet]

Hmmm, metal detectors, armed cashiers with kevlar uniforms and lots of bob wire.....there is a niche in there somewhere, probably deserving of stimulus dollars......can anyone here write a business plan?

[ZLTFUL]

I have spent some time in Detroit, Chicago, etc when I was testing 911...it was really odd to see stores in poorer neighborhoods with the high walls with fences atop them with only 1 or 2 driveways to get in and out of the parking lots. But still, the ammount of grafitti and just the overall shithole appearance to them was eye opening. If I were a business, I wouldn't waste my time if my "customers" were going to treat me that way.

[Grampa]

Hmmm, metal detectors, armed cashiers with kevlar uniforms and lots of bob wire.....there is a niche in there somewhere, probably deserving of stimulus dollars......can anyone here write a business plan?

I invented that.

The other guy was responsible for the barbed stuff

[redxblack]

I'd love for some people to try to live in neighborhoods like this for a year. Blaming people for their poverty is far too simple minded to be taken seriously. Poverty is a complex issue with MANY variables. People in poverty is one of them.

Akron had some real problems w/ urban decay after the rubber industry left in the 1980s. One neighborhood I lived in petitioned for almost 20 years to get a grocery store in their area. They finally got it. It's not Detroit level poverty, just a poor industrial area. The store is not tagged up and neighborhood activists paint over any tags that show up throughout the community. The store is thriving and even expanding now. When I lived in the area, I was fortunate enough to have a car. I could drive to the burbs and get groceries. People who took the bus couldn't nearly as well.

[cyrus buelton]

I'd love for some people to try to live in neighborhoods like this for a year. Blaming people for their poverty is far too simple minded to be taken seriously. Poverty is a complex issue with MANY variables. People in poverty is one of them.

Akron had some real problems w/ urban decay after the rubber industry left in the 1980s. One neighborhood I lived in petitioned for almost 20 years to get a grocery store in their area. They finally got it. It's not Detroit level poverty, just a poor industrial area. The store is not tagged up and neighborhood activists paint over any tags that show up throughout the community. The store is thriving and even expanding now. When I lived in the area, I was fortunate enough to have a car. I could drive to the burbs and get groceries. People who took the bus couldn't nearly as well.

I lived in a shitty area in Indianapolis during college (a few blocks north of 38th and meridian). Fortunately, I had a vehicle to go get groceries. The "local" corner stores were expensive, shitty, and I didn't know what half the food products were for. I believe the chain was called 8-Ball Foods; I am not joking, being racist, etc. That was the name of the hood' grocery store.

Blaming people for poverty is a complex issues, that can be talked about and fought about for days.

However..............

Maybe if these people were respectful and acted like a good human, there would be stores in their neighborhoods.

However, they choose to disrespect the privilege by vandalism, graffitti, theft, robbery, loitering, etc.


That is 100% their fault. Maybe Jesse and Al should get together and have a talk with the people they defend and start working to clean up their own act instead of relying on government assistance.

[wbeck257]

Hmmm, metal detectors, armed cashiers with kevlar uniforms and lots of bob wire.....there is a niche in there somewhere, probably deserving of stimulus dollars......can anyone here write a business plan?

Hi, welcome to the Kroger off Ponce de Leon in Atlanta.

(I'm not kidding.)

[cyrus buelton]

Hi, welcome to the Kroger off Ponce de Leon in Atlanta.

(I'm not kidding.)

Metal detectors??


At the Giant Eagle up the road, there is an armed guard (local police working some contract work) and I live in a nice area.

I wonder if it is because they have a bank in the store?

[Razzo Bolognese]

I lived in a shitty area in Indianapolis during college (a few blocks north of 38th and meridian). Fortunately, I had a vehicle to go get groceries. The "local" corner stores were expensive, shitty, and I didn't know what half the food products were for. I believe the chain was called 8-Ball Foods; I am not joking, being racist, etc. That was the name of the hood' grocery store.

Blaming people for poverty is a complex issues, that can be talked about and fought about for days.

However..............

Maybe if these people were respectful and acted like a good human, there would be stores in their neighborhoods.

However, they choose to disrespect the privilege by vandalism, graffitti, theft, robbery, loitering, etc.

That is 100% their fault. Maybe Jesse and Al should get together and have a talk with the people they defend and start working to clean up their own act instead of relying on government assistance.

Dude, you can't "however" these people.  Clearly you have nice things (a Ducati, for example) and care about them.  But what if you never had ANYTHING?  All the clothing you wore and the food you ate and the house you live in and the books you read in school, all were secondhand, beat-up, overpriced crap.  I can pretty much guarantee that "keeping it nice" wouldn't occur to you.  You'd never even have a baseline of what "nice" even looked like.

-Dan