Riverite wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 10:21 am
chaglang wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 9:38 am
Qualifying what I said with "all" and "solely" distorted my point considerably. If we are talking about benefits to longtime residents coming in the form of new businesses (which is the oft-cited benefits of redevelopment), then there has to be some relevance. I'd be very surprised if this particular developer has had the conversations with the neighbors to understand what that relevance means.
I agree, the conversation is something that needs to be had. Not saying every development has to cater, but what I think might be beneficial is for the bordering neighborhoods like Mannheim Hyde park , center city.. etc come up with a plan of which developments and amenities and price points they would like to see added. And work with developers on allowing them to build whatever some place with the understanding that they will help towards this particular thing another place.
We see this with affordable units, but maybe it could be expanded to grocery stores.
This idea is how you create a failed neighborhood with the wrong amenities.
There's four squares in a classic economic model
Nearly everyone will want the bottom right square in their community. This is free parking close to their home. It's affordable housing near every job. This is a perfect grocery store or drug store close by. Isn't an Urban Target in downtown, midtown and the plaza. But the market doesn't work that way.
A capitalist market isn't going to come in and install exactly what the neighborhood wants. It's going to build what's profitable.
And what's profitable isn't necessarily what people want today. It's check cashing, dollar stores and the like in many neighborhoods.
What is needed isn't to try and meet today's needs in neighborhoods but do these things
1. zoning and policies that makes to cheaper to provide flexible spaces.
2. zoning and policies that makes it cheaper to provide rental opportunities at different price points
3. infrastructure and policies that makes it easier to get around the city
It all comes back to jobs placement. When someone goes to work far from home the demand for restaurants and retail ends up being far from home because people move closer to work.
What we need to do is enable entrepreneurship within communities. The best job is one you create for yourself, working out of your home or apartment. If someone has a job doing handyman work on the east side they'll be looking for a place to eat lunch on the east side. That's demand for a cafe. That's a few more part time jobs. That's crime reduction because two 18 year olds have a job. It snowballs on itself.
Building stores isn't the first step. We need to put money into people starting businesses. Stores will follow.
We need to increase the base wage of people faster than developers can build new buildings because a business will use un-renovated space at a lower cost if they can