I've lived near a number of "hood stores" and come to the same conclusions as others here: some are run by honest, respectable and hard-working people; others are rip-off operations with no reason to exist.
I think it has less to do with the ethnicity of the owner than with their place of residence (though I believe in supporting minority entrepreneurs). Mammon is an equal opportunity employer. Many hood stores are owned and staffed by people who don't live anywhere near the hood. One guy used to commute from BLAINE to work in a convenience store in East Phillips -- can you imagine? That tells me that a whole lot of money is flowing out of this neighborhood. An owner who actually lives in the community may have a greater stake in providing good service and stopping crime. As for the zoning fix, with all due respect, that seems like a very imprecise and heavy-handed approach. Do business owners really just wake up one day and say, "Hmm, too much competition moving in... I'd better start running WIC scams and selling stolen goods"? The business that this type of zoning prevents from opening might be one that could have helped stabilize that neighborhood. The jerks are out there doing business already; the city should do its job and shut them down. Don't reduce people's options and opportunities. Look at the Asian market scenes on Nicollet Ave. in Minneapolis and on University Ave. in Saint Paul. Those groceries don't seem to be hurt by their close proximity to each other, and they bring business into the area. When I lived near Nicollet and 34th there was a pizzeria/convenience store run by a young Palestinian couple across the street from me. I think it was called "Pizza King" -- anyone remember? They made great pizza but never got the customer base they needed to stay in business (I think there's a panaderia there now). I liked those people and wonder what became of them. A couple of questions to help us improve our neighborhoods, which I hope someone can answer: 1) Who do we call to report health code violations? How about sale of drug paraphernalia? I've noticed at least two stores in my neighborhood that often sell items past their expiration date. One used to sell crack baggies at the counter (though I believe they've stopped). 2) Why not use this forum to name both the stars and the villains? People seem very reticent to actually say which stores are the problem in their neighborhoods. Is there some fear of retribution/legal action here? (And isn't there already a disclaimer that the list owner/admin isn't responsible for the content of individual posts?) You notice I didn't name any malefactors myself; that's because I want to respect the policy, if in fact that is the policy. Sam Adams East Phillips REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
