Why is there a shortage of grocery stores and fresh food options in Wards 7 and 8?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn't Safeway and Giant at one point have stores in those wards? I think the reason they left was because of theft. Hard to justify a store if more money walks out the doors than goes in the cash register.

Now a seasonal produce stand, I have no clue why there are none. Seems like some local farmer could set up a stand to sell their fruit and veggies. I guess the DC government would want their share, that's probably why there are none.

Yes, loss prevention. Stores cannot be forced to operate as charities..I always thought DC could do FAR more, like offering to open police substations in their entry ways, and other safety minded "partnerships" to encourage these stores to open. Instead, DC got very demandy with WalMart about employment and other perks the city wanted when they were thinking of locating in Washington. If it's simply market driven, no one will open in a demandy city in areas with rampant and tolerated theft. It's also very difficult to apprehend and prosecute for shoplifting, especially in our current world.

It’s fascinating to see a city grandfather in subsidized housing, like what’s happening at Res 13, to counter gentrification and ensure poverty can persist in a desirable neighborhood, so as not to “displace” local residents. As if the area should be preserved in amber for only certain protected classes of people. Most people have to move, but not some.

Anyway, it’s also fascinating to see people struggle to grasp that poor people straight up make bad decisions because they’re poor. They don’t want a damn Whole Foods. They can’t afford that sht. Generally, nor do they possess the wherewithal to understand how to eat mostly vegetables and less unhealthy processed sht. Stores have tried to make a go of it and sell healthy food around Anacostia and Benming and Langton carver and the only way that food takes off is if the area is sufficiently gentrified. Except it’s evil to gentrify, so it’s easier to look for a billion nonsense reasons why there are “food deserts”. It’s because of theft and bad choices. We need to just let areas change. We need to let the market work as it should even if people are priced out. No one has a right to be anywhere forever and it’s annoying to hear people complain about the sadness of poverty and being pushed out and blah blah. Let people move where they can afford to live and maybe that will encourage them to work harder and so forth. Instead of trying to grandfather in the same families to live in projects with subsidized rent for 50 years. I know this place is populated heavily by well intentioned housewives, but I live and grew up in the inner city in DC. It’s way better with gentrification.

Ahh the typical poor people are stupid and lazy. Got it.

Not the immigrant poor – just the cycle of poverty poor. But then again, most immigrant poor live in the cheaper suburbs and are busting their butt at three jobs and their kids go on to college in ome kind of stem or immediate job producing field.

— neighbor of these immigrants and listener to their stories

In our society we are obsessive about not blaming the "victim" for anything, but that won't help us address the US's problem with urban poverty and poor nutrition.

Societies all over the world have developed diets that have allowed people to survive and eat well on very limited budgets, but much of this knowledge has been lost in US inner cities. That is why so many immigrant families eat so much better on equally limited budgets.

Just one example, we have had a series of au pairs to care for our kids. One of the first was from Brazil. We told her that we would buy whatever food she wanted, just add it to our grocery list.

Dried beans
Rice
Frozen tilapia
Frozen chicken
Sausage
Various greens, various vegetables.

Every meal she made for our kids was some combination of rice, beans, a little meat, and some vegetable/greens. (and it was what she ate herself)


She was able to feed herself and our kids for a few dollars a day, and it was nutritious healthy food.

We just need to hire au pairs for everyone. Problem solved.

What does it say about your argument that you are limited to playing dumb?

The point is obvious, with a little effort and a little knowledge it is easy to feed a family healthy nutritious food. I have lived in the third world and see what real poverty looks like. Skinny kids in rags collecting trash on the street to bring home (or sell) as fuel.

US urban poverty is a totally different type of problem. People are paying more money to eat worse out of ignorance.

Go on Walmart.com and try pricing it out yourself. 8lbs dried pinto beans, $6. 10lbs rice, $4.60. 10lbs frozen chicken breast, $22.50. 12oz Frozen Kale, $1. 12oz Frozen collard greens, $1. 20oz frozen pepper and onion blend, $2.33. 3lb bag onions, $3.

22.50+6+4.6+1+1+2.33+3= $40.43

You could easily feed a family of 4 for a week on this. It wouldn't be gourmet but it would be healthy.

If you have someone dedicated to meal preparation.

You are welcome to start requiring the poors to prepare meals at home. I am not sure how you will enforce this, but with a sufficiently large police force, anything is possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn't Safeway and Giant at one point have stores in those wards? I think the reason they left was because of theft. Hard to justify a store if more money walks out the doors than goes in the cash register.

Now a seasonal produce stand, I have no clue why there are none. Seems like some local farmer could set up a stand to sell their fruit and veggies. I guess the DC government would want their share, that's probably why there are none.

Yes, loss prevention. Stores cannot be forced to operate as charities..I always thought DC could do FAR more, like offering to open police substations in their entry ways, and other safety minded "partnerships" to encourage these stores to open. Instead, DC got very demandy with WalMart about employment and other perks the city wanted when they were thinking of locating in Washington. If it's simply market driven, no one will open in a demandy city in areas with rampant and tolerated theft. It's also very difficult to apprehend and prosecute for shoplifting, especially in our current world.

It’s fascinating to see a city grandfather in subsidized housing, like what’s happening at Res 13, to counter gentrification and ensure poverty can persist in a desirable neighborhood, so as not to “displace” local residents. As if the area should be preserved in amber for only certain protected classes of people. Most people have to move, but not some.

Anyway, it’s also fascinating to see people struggle to grasp that poor people straight up make bad decisions because they’re poor. They don’t want a damn Whole Foods. They can’t afford that sht. Generally, nor do they possess the wherewithal to understand how to eat mostly vegetables and less unhealthy processed sht. Stores have tried to make a go of it and sell healthy food around Anacostia and Benming and Langton carver and the only way that food takes off is if the area is sufficiently gentrified. Except it’s evil to gentrify, so it’s easier to look for a billion nonsense reasons why there are “food deserts”. It’s because of theft and bad choices. We need to just let areas change. We need to let the market work as it should even if people are priced out. No one has a right to be anywhere forever and it’s annoying to hear people complain about the sadness of poverty and being pushed out and blah blah. Let people move where they can afford to live and maybe that will encourage them to work harder and so forth. Instead of trying to grandfather in the same families to live in projects with subsidized rent for 50 years. I know this place is populated heavily by well intentioned housewives, but I live and grew up in the inner city in DC. It’s way better with gentrification.

Ahh the typical poor people are stupid and lazy. Got it.

Not the immigrant poor – just the cycle of poverty poor. But then again, most immigrant poor live in the cheaper suburbs and are busting their butt at three jobs and their kids go on to college in ome kind of stem or immediate job producing field.

— neighbor of these immigrants and listener to their stories

In our society we are obsessive about not blaming the "victim" for anything, but that won't help us address the US's problem with urban poverty and poor nutrition.

Societies all over the world have developed diets that have allowed people to survive and eat well on very limited budgets, but much of this knowledge has been lost in US inner cities. That is why so many immigrant families eat so much better on equally limited budgets.

Just one example, we have had a series of au pairs to care for our kids. One of the first was from Brazil. We told her that we would buy whatever food she wanted, just add it to our grocery list.

Dried beans
Rice
Frozen tilapia
Frozen chicken
Sausage
Various greens, various vegetables.

Every meal she made for our kids was some combination of rice, beans, a little meat, and some vegetable/greens. (and it was what she ate herself)


She was able to feed herself and our kids for a few dollars a day, and it was nutritious healthy food.

We just need to hire au pairs for everyone. Problem solved.

What does it say about your argument that you are limited to playing dumb?

The point is obvious, with a little effort and a little knowledge it is easy to feed a family healthy nutritious food. I have lived in the third world and see what real poverty looks like. Skinny kids in rags collecting trash on the street to bring home (or sell) as fuel.

US urban poverty is a totally different type of problem. People are paying more money to eat worse out of ignorance.

Go on Walmart.com and try pricing it out yourself. 8lbs dried pinto beans, $6. 10lbs rice, $4.60. 10lbs frozen chicken breast, $22.50. 12oz Frozen Kale, $1. 12oz Frozen collard greens, $1. 20oz frozen pepper and onion blend, $2.33. 3lb bag onions, $3.

22.50+6+4.6+1+1+2.33+3= $40.43

You could easily feed a family of 4 for a week on this. It wouldn't be gourmet but it would be healthy.

8 lbs beans is 6000 calories.
10 lbs rice is 5900 calories.
10 lbs chicken is 5000 calories
3 lbs onions is 600 calories.

My math isn't that good, but that's 17,500 calories. 2,000 calories a day is considered typical. In a week you need about 56,000 calories to feed a family of four.

You are suggesting a starvation diet. I can't take advice from someone so basically uninformed about nutrition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn't Safeway and Giant at one point have stores in those wards? I think the reason they left was because of theft. Hard to justify a store if more money walks out the doors than goes in the cash register.

Now a seasonal produce stand, I have no clue why there are none. Seems like some local farmer could set up a stand to sell their fruit and veggies. I guess the DC government would want their share, that's probably why there are none.

Yes, loss prevention. Stores cannot be forced to operate as charities..I always thought DC could do FAR more, like offering to open police substations in their entry ways, and other safety minded "partnerships" to encourage these stores to open. Instead, DC got very demandy with WalMart about employment and other perks the city wanted when they were thinking of locating in Washington. If it's simply market driven, no one will open in a demandy city in areas with rampant and tolerated theft. It's also very difficult to apprehend and prosecute for shoplifting, especially in our current world.

It’s fascinating to see a city grandfather in subsidized housing, like what’s happening at Res 13, to counter gentrification and ensure poverty can persist in a desirable neighborhood, so as not to “displace” local residents. As if the area should be preserved in amber for only certain protected classes of people. Most people have to move, but not some.

Anyway, it’s also fascinating to see people struggle to grasp that poor people straight up make bad decisions because they’re poor. They don’t want a damn Whole Foods. They can’t afford that sht. Generally, nor do they possess the wherewithal to understand how to eat mostly vegetables and less unhealthy processed sht. Stores have tried to make a go of it and sell healthy food around Anacostia and Benming and Langton carver and the only way that food takes off is if the area is sufficiently gentrified. Except it’s evil to gentrify, so it’s easier to look for a billion nonsense reasons why there are “food deserts”. It’s because of theft and bad choices. We need to just let areas change. We need to let the market work as it should even if people are priced out. No one has a right to be anywhere forever and it’s annoying to hear people complain about the sadness of poverty and being pushed out and blah blah. Let people move where they can afford to live and maybe that will encourage them to work harder and so forth. Instead of trying to grandfather in the same families to live in projects with subsidized rent for 50 years. I know this place is populated heavily by well intentioned housewives, but I live and grew up in the inner city in DC. It’s way better with gentrification.

Ahh the typical poor people are stupid and lazy. Got it.

Not the immigrant poor – just the cycle of poverty poor. But then again, most immigrant poor live in the cheaper suburbs and are busting their butt at three jobs and their kids go on to college in ome kind of stem or immediate job producing field.

— neighbor of these immigrants and listener to their stories

In our society we are obsessive about not blaming the "victim" for anything, but that won't help us address the US's problem with urban poverty and poor nutrition.

Societies all over the world have developed diets that have allowed people to survive and eat well on very limited budgets, but much of this knowledge has been lost in US inner cities. That is why so many immigrant families eat so much better on equally limited budgets.

Just one example, we have had a series of au pairs to care for our kids. One of the first was from Brazil. We told her that we would buy whatever food she wanted, just add it to our grocery list.

Dried beans
Rice
Frozen tilapia
Frozen chicken
Sausage
Various greens, various vegetables.

Every meal she made for our kids was some combination of rice, beans, a little meat, and some vegetable/greens. (and it was what she ate herself)


She was able to feed herself and our kids for a few dollars a day, and it was nutritious healthy food.

We just need to hire au pairs for everyone. Problem solved.

What does it say about your argument that you are limited to playing dumb?

The point is obvious, with a little effort and a little knowledge it is easy to feed a family healthy nutritious food. I have lived in the third world and see what real poverty looks like. Skinny kids in rags collecting trash on the street to bring home (or sell) as fuel.

US urban poverty is a totally different type of problem. People are paying more money to eat worse out of ignorance.

Go on Walmart.com and try pricing it out yourself. 8lbs dried pinto beans, $6. 10lbs rice, $4.60. 10lbs frozen chicken breast, $22.50. 12oz Frozen Kale, $1. 12oz Frozen collard greens, $1. 20oz frozen pepper and onion blend, $2.33. 3lb bag onions, $3.

22.50+6+4.6+1+1+2.33+3= $40.43

You could easily feed a family of 4 for a week on this. It wouldn't be gourmet but it would be healthy.

8 lbs beans is 6000 calories.
10 lbs rice is 5900 calories.
10 lbs chicken is 5000 calories
3 lbs onions is 600 calories.

My math isn't that good, but that's 17,500 calories. 2,000 calories a day is considered typical. In a week you need about 56,000 calories to feed a family of four.

You are suggesting a starvation diet. I can't take advice from someone so basically uninformed about nutrition.

Your numbers are low:

8lbs pinto beans is 103 servings at 100 calories each. (10,300) https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Pinto-Beans-8-lb/10314949

10lbs rice is 100 servings at 160 calories each (16,000) https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Long-Grain-Enriched-Rice-160-oz/10315399

10lbs chicken breasts is 40 serving at 110 calories each. (4,400) https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Boneless-Skinless-Chicken-Breast-10-lb-Frozen/170905329


Depending on the age of kids 32k calories for a week might be tight, but it doesn't matter, the argument obviously stands.

Add 8lbs of potatoes (2,000) $7.50.
Add 1.5 lbs of bacon (1,200) $6.00.
Add 10lbs frozen mixed vegetables (2,750) $11.10
Double the beans, double the rice, (+26,000) $10.60.

Another 32k calories for another $35.20.

The point is that eating a reasonably nutritious doesn't need to be expensive, nor is it especially complicated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn't Safeway and Giant at one point have stores in those wards? I think the reason they left was because of theft. Hard to justify a store if more money walks out the doors than goes in the cash register.

Now a seasonal produce stand, I have no clue why there are none. Seems like some local farmer could set up a stand to sell their fruit and veggies. I guess the DC government would want their share, that's probably why there are none.

Yes, loss prevention. Stores cannot be forced to operate as charities..I always thought DC could do FAR more, like offering to open police substations in their entry ways, and other safety minded "partnerships" to encourage these stores to open. Instead, DC got very demandy with WalMart about employment and other perks the city wanted when they were thinking of locating in Washington. If it's simply market driven, no one will open in a demandy city in areas with rampant and tolerated theft. It's also very difficult to apprehend and prosecute for shoplifting, especially in our current world.

It’s fascinating to see a city grandfather in subsidized housing, like what’s happening at Res 13, to counter gentrification and ensure poverty can persist in a desirable neighborhood, so as not to “displace” local residents. As if the area should be preserved in amber for only certain protected classes of people. Most people have to move, but not some.

Anyway, it’s also fascinating to see people struggle to grasp that poor people straight up make bad decisions because they’re poor. They don’t want a damn Whole Foods. They can’t afford that sht. Generally, nor do they possess the wherewithal to understand how to eat mostly vegetables and less unhealthy processed sht. Stores have tried to make a go of it and sell healthy food around Anacostia and Benming and Langton carver and the only way that food takes off is if the area is sufficiently gentrified. Except it’s evil to gentrify, so it’s easier to look for a billion nonsense reasons why there are “food deserts”. It’s because of theft and bad choices. We need to just let areas change. We need to let the market work as it should even if people are priced out. No one has a right to be anywhere forever and it’s annoying to hear people complain about the sadness of poverty and being pushed out and blah blah. Let people move where they can afford to live and maybe that will encourage them to work harder and so forth. Instead of trying to grandfather in the same families to live in projects with subsidized rent for 50 years. I know this place is populated heavily by well intentioned housewives, but I live and grew up in the inner city in DC. It’s way better with gentrification.

Ahh the typical poor people are stupid and lazy. Got it.

Not the immigrant poor – just the cycle of poverty poor. But then again, most immigrant poor live in the cheaper suburbs and are busting their butt at three jobs and their kids go on to college in ome kind of stem or immediate job producing field.

— neighbor of these immigrants and listener to their stories

In our society we are obsessive about not blaming the "victim" for anything, but that won't help us address the US's problem with urban poverty and poor nutrition.

Societies all over the world have developed diets that have allowed people to survive and eat well on very limited budgets, but much of this knowledge has been lost in US inner cities. That is why so many immigrant families eat so much better on equally limited budgets.

Just one example, we have had a series of au pairs to care for our kids. One of the first was from Brazil. We told her that we would buy whatever food she wanted, just add it to our grocery list.

Dried beans
Rice
Frozen tilapia
Frozen chicken
Sausage
Various greens, various vegetables.

Every meal she made for our kids was some combination of rice, beans, a little meat, and some vegetable/greens. (and it was what she ate herself)


She was able to feed herself and our kids for a few dollars a day, and it was nutritious healthy food.

We just need to hire au pairs for everyone. Problem solved.

What does it say about your argument that you are limited to playing dumb?

The point is obvious, with a little effort and a little knowledge it is easy to feed a family healthy nutritious food. I have lived in the third world and see what real poverty looks like. Skinny kids in rags collecting trash on the street to bring home (or sell) as fuel.

US urban poverty is a totally different type of problem. People are paying more money to eat worse out of ignorance.

Go on Walmart.com and try pricing it out yourself. 8lbs dried pinto beans, $6. 10lbs rice, $4.60. 10lbs frozen chicken breast, $22.50. 12oz Frozen Kale, $1. 12oz Frozen collard greens, $1. 20oz frozen pepper and onion blend, $2.33. 3lb bag onions, $3.

22.50+6+4.6+1+1+2.33+3= $40.43

You could easily feed a family of 4 for a week on this. It wouldn't be gourmet but it would be healthy.

If you have someone dedicated to meal preparation.

You are welcome to start requiring the poors to prepare meals at home. I am not sure how you will enforce this, but with a sufficiently large police force, anything is possible.

Dedicated to meal preparation? Out of curiosity, how long do you think it takes to make rice, beans, some vegetables and a few chicken breasts?

[Anonymous]

Another factor could be that parents know their kids are get a lot of their daily food at school - some schools for lower income kids provide all 3 daily meals. Those meals are often touted as nutritionally balanced and complete which might lead to parents feeling that since their child is eating well at school so it’s ok to have junk food at home because it will all balance out.

[Anonymous]

In addition to the legacy of the feds redlining and the role of city wide leadership, ANC leaders have a role to play as well. In Ward 7, we have a farmer's market. However, our local ANC currently supports plans that would eventually change our current farmer's market into another type of venue. For example, at the Fields at RFK, when a big event happens there and they claim they need to use the farmer's market space, our farmer's market now is moved to a less desirable location. The ANC has prioritized supporting big development as opposed to prioritizing greater fresh food options for residents who actually live in the neighborhood, need walkable access, and affordability.

Not everyone wants a Union Market and to be priced out like what has happened before. However, it's similar to the debate about extending the streetcar in Ward 7. Even though we have a perfectly good bus system that already exists, some ANC leaders and big development supporters want to spend money on a connection that we don't need as opposed to supporting those who would like greater access to fresh food at a location that is both accessible and affordable. The issues with the functioning and prioritization of some Ward 7 ANCs need to be addressed. For instance, our previous ANC commissioner focused much of their energy on making sure fewer cars drove down their street (making traffic worse for others) as opposed to addressing other issues such as food insecurity, access to fresh food, and affordability.

[Anonymous]

Urban planner here and DC resident- national stores have demographic numbers they need to reach to justify new stores. eg. Food lion is looking for 3,000 underserved households, of a certain income, to justify building a new store in any given location.
factors at play-Wards 7 and 8 are larger with less density than some other areas, significantly lower household income, crime, high rates of in store theft, need for large sites with parking, misconceptions about the area. Also, census notoriously undercounts low income african american communities which means the date that stores use to make decisions is not even accurate or complete.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

In our society we are obsessive about not blaming the "victim" for anything, but that won't help us address the US's problem with urban poverty and poor nutrition.

Societies all over the world have developed diets that have allowed people to survive and eat well on very limited budgets, but much of this knowledge has been lost in US inner cities. That is why so many immigrant families eat so much better on equally limited budgets.

Just one example, we have had a series of au pairs to care for our kids. One of the first was from Brazil. We told her that we would buy whatever food she wanted, just add it to our grocery list.

Dried beans
Rice
Frozen tilapia
Frozen chicken
Sausage
Various greens, various vegetables.

Every meal she made for our kids was some combination of rice, beans, a little meat, and some vegetable/greens. (and it was what she ate herself)


She was able to feed herself and our kids for a few dollars a day, and it was nutritious healthy food.

We just need to hire au pairs for everyone. Problem solved.

What does it say about your argument that you are limited to playing dumb?

The point is obvious, with a little effort and a little knowledge it is easy to feed a family healthy nutritious food. I have lived in the third world and see what real poverty looks like. Skinny kids in rags collecting trash on the street to bring home (or sell) as fuel.

US urban poverty is a totally different type of problem. People are paying more money to eat worse out of ignorance.

Go on Walmart.com and try pricing it out yourself. 8lbs dried pinto beans, $6. 10lbs rice, $4.60. 10lbs frozen chicken breast, $22.50. 12oz Frozen Kale, $1. 12oz Frozen collard greens, $1. 20oz frozen pepper and onion blend, $2.33. 3lb bag onions, $3.

22.50+6+4.6+1+1+2.33+3= $40.43

You could easily feed a family of 4 for a week on this. It wouldn't be gourmet but it would be healthy.

8 lbs beans is 6000 calories.
10 lbs rice is 5900 calories.
10 lbs chicken is 5000 calories
3 lbs onions is 600 calories.

My math isn't that good, but that's 17,500 calories. 2,000 calories a day is considered typical. In a week you need about 56,000 calories to feed a family of four.

You are suggesting a starvation diet. I can't take advice from someone so basically uninformed about nutrition.

Protein and carbs are about four calories per gram and fat is nine calories per gram. There are about 450 grams in a pound.
So 10 lbs of rice or chicken should be about 18000 calories.
Perhaps your source is saying cooked rice, and the chicken they have removed skin and bones, though that still wouldn't account for the difference.

[Anonymous]

This is such a dumb thread. There used to be only 6 supermarkets in all of NW DC (2 FreshFields, 3 Safeway’s and 1 Giant) and basically no supermarket in the rest of the city except for another Safeway on Capital Hill. Why was that? Let’s ponder the thought….

[Anonymous]

Omg. You're food planning for a family of 4 is unappealing. Do you expect that family of 4 to eat the same thing day after day? Be realistic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Omg. You're food planning for a family of 4 is unappealing. Do you expect that family of 4 to eat the same thing day after day? Be realistic.

You are being unrealistic in thinking that was the point of the post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg. You're food planning for a family of 4 is unappealing. Do you expect that family of 4 to eat the same thing day after day? Be realistic.

You are being unrealistic in thinking that was the point of the post.

There are also different kinds of beans, different varieties of potatoes and frozen vegetables and a little category called "herbs and spices" and different cooking techniques.

PP just wants to see obstacles instead of solutions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Igrocery buying power of W7/8 is huge and anectdotally it seems most of us shop in MD or Cap Hill/Noma.
I make healthy food choices and could walk to that Safeway, but never shop there because it's an awful Safeway.

In MD/ Cap Hill/Noma, do the grocery stores have lower costs? Are they able to stack food past the registers, or outside the doors?

That was my post and it's an interesting question because they seem to be two completely different markets. By MD I meant specifically PG county which does not cater to fancy tastes at all, I'm talking places like Sav-a-lot or wal-mart or Aldi, and the land is cheaper. But they are there in abundance. I think of Cap Hill/Noma as a little wealthier and they cater to both crowds, and real estate is high but perhaps any theft is offset by the large amount of wealthy shoppers? It just seems like every neighbor shops in MD or west of the river and those dollars could easily go to a walkable Safeway if it were maintained well.

[Anonymous]

Supply and demand, my friends. That's how economics works. Inventory and store locations became more and more demand driven throughout the 80s with just-in-time inventory and an emphasis on lean strategies. Nobody is going to stock a bunch of fresh food that will spoil out of the goodness of their heart for the 3% of shoppers in Ward 8 who want fresh food. It's demand pull, not supply push. When residents want healthier food, it will arrive

[Anonymous]

No vendor wants to get murdered over $100 and a cucumber