Quote:
Originally Posted by untitledreality
why spend decades of your life living in an area that fails to meet even the most basic standards of city living in the hopes that it improves to include such basic services
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Because that's the way retail demand works. Shops and services locate
where there's demand for them. I lived for 20 years in the South Loop before a full-service grocery store arrived.
My eyes roll audibly every time I hear someone from a South or West Side neighborhood talking about how the mayor (or the city, or a sitting alderman) has done nothing to bring a grocery store/coffee shop/whatever to this or that desert. You know, we don't have a Ministry of Food and Caffeinated Beverage Shops who decides where such things get built, allocated equitably according to need. And national credit retailers don't sit around waiting for aldermen to summon them to a particular neighborhood.
If you think there's some institutional barrier that's keeping the free market from working properly, work to remove that barrier. Within reason, use short-term incentives to jump-start retail development in nodes where it makes sense, and support city-aided land assembly programs. Get together with neighbors and form a grocery coöp. Seek out family-owned hardware stores or pharmacies in adjacent neighborhoods who might consider a second location. Ask the convenience or liquor store to consider stocking something additional, one or two things at a time.
Or do nothing, and see if the city magically turns into what you want it to be.