Food desert? (Phoenix, Mesa, Prescott: rental, purchase, income)

[Hschlick84]

Thoughts on the grocery store selection in PV. Do you think parts of PV are food deserts? Northern PV, Coyote Springs, east side by Lakeshore Dr/Fain Rd and along Hwy 69 near Prescott Country club.

Walmart is busy, seems a little ghetto in my opinion and lackluster variety of higher end products. Safeway after the renovation still has narrow aisle and lack of large qualities. Fry's gets crowded and the parking lot is trash. Sprouts is on the southwest part of town and a long commute for people who live in Dewey-Humboldt.

Would like to see Aldi's expand here, same with WinCo or a larger Fry's Marketplace get built north of Hwy 89A and Glassford Hill Rd.

[chris_s]

Originally Posted by Hschlick84

Thoughts on the grocery store selection in PV. Do you think parts of PV are food deserts? Northern PV, Coyote Springs, east side by Lakeshore Dr/Fain Rd and along Hwy 69 near Prescott Country club.

Walmart is busy, seems a little ghetto in my opinion and lackluster variety of higher end products. Safeway after the renovation still has narrow aisle and lack of large qualities. Fry's gets crowded and the parking lot is trash. Sprouts is on the southwest part of town and a long commute for people who live in Dewey-Humboldt.

Would like to see Aldi's expand here, same with WinCo or a larger Fry's Marketplace get built north of Hwy 89A and Glassford Hill Rd.

I doubt any grocery chain store coming to this area anytime soon, especially along highway 89A.

1. There's already 12 grocery stores for about 140,000 people, the average is one store per 12,000 people.

2. Highway 69 has a traffic flow of 40,000 cars daily; 89A averages 32,000 cars daily.

3. You would have to create retail lots with multiple lanes and stop lights. Nothing like that exists now.

Most importantly grocery stores are changing; you'll see more pick up and delivery services rather than walking in stores and purchasing. No one wants to be the next Sears and K-Mart.

[AZ Desert Guy]

Originally Posted by chris_s

I doubt any grocery chain store coming to this area anytime soon, especially along highway 89A.

1. There's already 12 grocery stores for about 140,000 people, the average is one store per 12,000 people.

2. Highway 69 has a traffic flow of 40,000 cars daily; 89A averages 32,000 cars daily.

3. You would have to create retail lots with multiple lanes and stop lights. Nothing like that exists now.

Most importantly grocery stores are changing; you'll see more pick up and delivery services rather than walking in stores and purchasing. No one wants to be the next Sears and K-Mart.

Per the bolded, where do you get a number like that?

[Hschlick84]

Originally Posted by chris_s

I doubt any grocery chain store coming to this area anytime soon, especially along highway 89A.

1. There's already 12 grocery stores for about 140,000 people, the average is one store per 12,000 people.

2. Highway 69 has a traffic flow of 40,000 cars daily; 89A averages 32,000 cars daily.

3. You would have to create retail lots with multiple lanes and stop lights. Nothing like that exists now.

Most importantly grocery stores are changing; you'll see more pick up and delivery services rather than walking in stores and purchasing. No one wants to be the next Sears and K-Mart.

I don't know about that, we're growing at 2.5% since 2020, and expected to break 60k before 2030. Traffic is already getting heavier along Glassford Hill Rd from all the commuters who live on the north side of town and is expected to be widen to 3 lanes going north/southbound. In that case, they're driving to the nearest grocery stores which are all centralized along Hwy 69 versus being evenly spread out.

8,000 additional vehicles compared to 89A doesn't excuse a business for not planning future development. The annexed land north of Glassford Hill is ripe for commercial development, whether its for a strip mall or offices.

[chris_s]

Originally Posted by AZ Desert Guy

Per the bolded, where do you get a number like that?

Someplace on city-data.com

From three generations of family being in the grocery business I can say that's close enough.

[Hschlick84]

Originally Posted by chris_s

Someplace on city-data.com

From three generations of family being in the grocery business I can say that's close enough.

Lets say I lived in Dewey Humboldt, I have to drive to the closest grocery store. Where is it located? Florentine and Hwy 69.

2nd family, they live off Lakeshore and Sheridan Land in PV. They have to purchase some canned goods and fresh deli for their kids, where is the closest grocery store? Florentine and Hwy 69. See where I'm getting at? Majority of people who live in PV are commuting to one centralized location for their shopping, versus the commercial areas being more spread out in other comparable locales. PV does have a food desert.

[thinkalot]

I don't consider that a food desert. You have choices. You just don't want to drive to those choices or aren't happy with them.

Part of this is your low population. You can't expect Phoenix choices when you don't have a high population per square mile.

[Hschlick84]

Originally Posted by thinkalot

I don't consider that a food desert. You have choices. You just don't want to drive to those choices or aren't happy with them.

Part of this is your low population. You can't expect Phoenix choices when you don't have a high population per square mile.

On this interactive chart, parts of PV are in a food desert according to the USDA. The chart has just about all of the central block and eastern block in green. Green category definition:

'Low-income census tracts where a significant
number or share of residents is more than 1
mile (urban) or 10 miles (rural) from the nearest
supermarket.'

https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-produc...x#.UUDJLTeyL28

[beckerd2]

Originally Posted by thinkalot

I don't consider that a food desert. You have choices. You just don't want to drive to those choices or aren't happy with them.

Part of this is your low population. You can't expect Phoenix choices when you don't have a high population per square mile.

I agree with your statement. Who cares what an Usda chart says.
Where I live in AZ, the residents of our town have to drive 30 plus miles to a grocery store. We would LOVE to have ANY kind of grocery store to supply our population.
THAT is an actual food desert.

Just putting some reality in the perspective of things. Be greatful for what you have.

[BriansPerspective]

Originally Posted by Hschlick84

On this interactive chart, parts of PV are in a food desert according to the USDA. The chart has just about all of the central block and eastern block in green. Green category definition:

'Low-income census tracts where a significant
number or share of residents is more than 1
mile (urban) or 10 miles (rural) from the nearest
supermarket.'

https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-produc...x#.UUDJLTeyL28

USDA needs to find a new cartographer. According to the USDA chart, the green areas represent low-income and/or a 'food desert'. How then can the green area contain THREE grocery stores? The green area also does NOT represent low-income, because it is missing Castle Canyon Mesa and all of the rental areas to the east of Navajo, plus it includes half of PV-20, which is not low-income.

There is NO food desert here. If you instead want to claim that Cordes Lakes is a food desert, then I would be more inclined to agree.