Another suburban amenity

My buddy, John in Northside, was quick to point out to me that the inner city has all these wonderful amenities over the suburbs, like pro sports, art galleries, the symphony, et al.

Let me clue him in on an amenity the suburbs offer over the city.

Grocery stores.

She doesn't realize it, but when Betty Carson worries out loud about no longer being able to walk five minutes from her senior citizen building to Kroger, and instead taking a bus once a week to a farther store, she's talking about an issue facing urban areas all over the country.

Her neighborhood could become a "food desert."

That's a buzz phrase to describe mostly low-income, inner-city neighborhoods left behind by grocery companies' moves to bigger, more profitable and often suburban, locations.

Kroger might close its McMillan Avenue store sometime after its lease expires in February if a lower rent can't be negotiated. The location is smaller than new stores, isn't as profitable and sits in a neighborhood the city admits has a problem with at least the perception of crime.

Aldi plans to close its Avondale store as soon as its new location opens on Ridge Road in Columbia Township.

"The perception of crime"? Let me clue the writer in on something, it's not "the perception of crime", it's actually crime.

Just to give you a for instance, try this one, which occured in a Cincinnati Krogers just last weekend.

A New Orleans man was arrested Saturday after he allegedly finished off a can of stolen beer in front of a store employee.

I mean c'mon that happens out here in suburbia all the time. Just the other day, I was grocery shopping out here in Redville when a guy in a business suit started doing beer bongs right there in aisle 11.

What's so progressive about a "food desert"?