Whole Foods back on for East Liberty (Pittsburgh, Progress: luxury, construction)

[_Buster]

Originally Posted by Mr.BadGuy

Food desert refers to a low income neighborhood with little or no access to food shopping—the opposite of a 1st world problem for those affected. It's not a new idea at any rate.

Lol, so you think taking a bus or walking to a grocery store chock full of nutrious food is a 3rd world thing, got it. If you go to actual third world countries you will see living conditions that are not imagineable in the US. These types of terms in the US make a mockery of that situation.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by _Buster

Lol, so you think taking a bus or walking to a grocery store chock full of nutrious food is a 3rd world thing, got it. If you go to actual third world countries you will see living conditions that are not imagineable in the US. These types of terms in the US make a mockery of that situation.

The USDA even defines “food deserts”. It’s a pretty universal term.

[_Buster]

Originally Posted by erieguy

The USDA even defines “food deserts”. It’s a pretty universal term.

That doesn't make it very meaningful however. A real desert is a large area with harsh conditions. How big is a food desert in Pittsburgh. Many other countries have serious nutritional issues that are life threatening, the use of those terms so carelessly makes light of it.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by _Buster

That doesn't make it very meaningful however. A real desert is a large area with harsh conditions. How big is a food desert in Pittsburgh. Many othecountries have serious nutritional issues that are life threatening, the use of those terms so carelessly makes light of it.

Perhaps not meaningful to you, however, it’s a universal term across the country, and a “food desert” can certainly affect one’s health/diet.

https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion...s/201802110101

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by eschaton

One thing people don't tend to realize who don't live in the ghetto is those little sketchy convenience stores you find in bad neighborhoods tend to charge more, not less for groceries. Part of this is because they have a captive audience and can afford to gouge them. Part of this is shoplifing is more common in poor neighborhoods, and retailers need to make up for the money they lose on stolen products with higher prices on everything else.

You're absolutely correct.
I'd also like to piggyback and point out that a lot of these little convenience stores sell food with little nutritional value, thus making the population reliant on them more prone to developing chronic diseases, such as diabetes. And thats a cost thats ultimately borne by the taxpayers, due to Medicaid....

Originally Posted by Mr.BadGuy

In between trips people will rely on local mini marts or "bodegas". Items are often stale, extremely overpriced, or just plain not there. The local papers did report on people in these exact situations when I lived in town, I vividly remember at least 1 story, possibly in the P-G (?).

https://newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/food-deserts/

Originally Posted by _Buster

That doesn't make it very meaningful however. A real desert is a large area with harsh conditions. How big is a food desert in Pittsburgh. Many other countries have serious nutritional issues that are life threatening, the use of those terms so carelessly makes light of it.

"According to a 2012 report prepared for the US Department of the Treasury CDFI Fund Capacity Building Initiative, among cities with populations of 250,000-500,000, Pittsburgh has the largest percentage of people residing in communities with “low-supermarket access” (LSA). Approximately 47% or 145, 245 Pittsburgh residents experience low access and 71% of city LSA residents are low-income. Greater Pittsburgh has a composite ranking of second for the number impacted by low access. In the metro area, including all of Allegheny County, 18% of residents or 422,513 people reside in LSA communities. Of the metro’s LSA area residents, 57% are low income. The high percentage of low-supermarket access areas in the Pittsburgh metro corresponds with the forth-highest rate of obesity (29.3%) among US metro areas. The statistics provided depict a region in which access to healthy food appears to be more of a privilege than a right of all citizens."
- http://www.justharvest.org/wp-conten...ice-060713.pdf

[xdv8]

Originally Posted by Mr.BadGuy

For those without cars, who live relatively far from one of those older stores (that covers a large swathe of the Eastern neighborhoods) the lesser number of stores meant shopping was always planned out in advance, and popping into a nicer grocery for a couple items often wasn't possible. Especially so if walking or bus is the main way of getting there.

So you are referring to Homewood, Lincoln-Lemington, Larimer then? I don't disagree with that. My only point was that East Liberty has never been a food desert by any definition, which is what your post implied.

[gg]

Just an update. Very pleased this is going through. Much needed jobs and hopefully more tax revenue for the city and that litter filled empty lot will finally be something better than an empty lot that people like to run around protesting any progress. Goodness!

https://triblive.com/local/pittsburg...nn-plaza-site/

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by gg

Just an update. Very pleased this is going through. Much needed jobs and hopefully more tax revenue for the city and that litter filled empty lot will finally be something better than an empty lot that people like to run around protesting any progress. Goodness!

https://triblive.com/local/pittsburg...nn-plaza-site/

These greedy NIMBY “community groups” are getting exactly what they deserve.

Instead of Penn Plaza being replaced by a Whole Foods and a ton of new apartments—some of which would be affordably-priced—there will now be a Whole Foods, NO apartments, and high-end office space. Those offices will be marketed towards high-paying white-collar companies and/or tech firms, and many of those incoming workers will want to rent apartments near work. That means rental demand in the East End will increase further, and rents in the East End will rise further, which will price out more of the NIMBY “community groups” who fought so hard against new housing at this site.

I’m done having any empathy towards those community groups. The East End needs more apartments to alleviate rent increases—not more workplaces.

[gg]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

These greedy NIMBY “community groups” are getting exactly what they deserve.

Instead of Penn Plaza being replaced by a Whole Foods and a ton of new apartments—some of which would be affordably-priced—there will now be a Whole Foods, NO apartments, and high-end office space. Those offices will be marketed towards high-paying white-collar companies and/or tech firms, and many of those incoming workers will want to rent apartments near work. That means rental demand in the East End will increase further, and rents in the East End will rise further, which will price out more of the NIMBY “community groups” who fought so hard against new housing at this site.

I’m done having any empathy towards those community groups. The East End needs more apartments to alleviate rent increases—not more workplaces.

There are too many section 8 places in the city already. The city needs tax revenue not more handouts.

I could care less what those crazy whining groups want.

[Independentthinking83]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

These greedy NIMBY “community groups” are getting exactly what they deserve.

I’m done having any empathy towards those community groups. The East End needs more apartments to alleviate rent increases—not more workplaces.

They are a cog in the wheel and hinder progress. Ever wonder why it takes forever to get projects approved and then completed?