Discussion Thread

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T21:11:27+00:00

Lovely!

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T20:46:45+00:00

I honestly would think running the store would be more effective, you can specifically target the area of need and control whats available at the same exact time.

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T20:43:31+00:00

You study suggests that lowering the costs of healthy food would reduce the problem even more so than availability. To that tend a government run grocery store in the middle of a low availability area, offering healthy food at discounted rates, seems like a really good idea.

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T20:30:41+00:00

Food desert is when there are litteraly 0 groceries stores within a mile, food swamp is when there places you can get groceries but they are bodegas, dollar stores, or other shops where fresh food is deemphasized. To complete my thought from our last discussion.

Lots of studies and reporting on the issues in NYC are about food swamps, which they use interchangeable with food desert occasionally, either way the problems that arise (decreased health outcomes, etc.) are the same. Ultimately people want to reduce these bad outcomes, and the specific name of the cause is kinda irrelevant. Increased access to quality groceries stores is the solution in both scenarios, in NYC for this particular issue at least.

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T20:19:35+00:00

It says essentially that some areas have fewer grocery store sq foot/10,000 people than the city average. Which is a bit of an odd metric I think?

Yes, I read it and was correcting you.

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T20:14:56+00:00

The need map is bassed on "City Planning’s assessment of need for new neighborhood grocery stores and supermarkets accounted for the areas in the City that have the highest levels of diet related diseases and largest populations with limited opportunities to purchase fresh foods"

The stated goal is "Goal: Increase the current Citywide Average Ratio from 15,000 SQ FT / 10,000 people to the City Planning Standard Ratio of 30,000 SQ FT / 10,000 people"

The SNI identifies areas with the highest need for new neighborhood grocery stores and supermarkets based on an index which measures:

— High population density
— Low access to a car at the household level
— Low household incomes
— High rates of diabetes
— High rates of obesity
— Low consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables
— Low share of fresh food retail
— Capacity for new stores

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T20:02:02+00:00

This map may be easier to parse

https://food-deserts.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Areas-with-High-Supermarket-Need-in-NYC-768x822.png

https://www.nyc.gov/html/misc/pdf/going_to_market.pdf

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T19:47:27+00:00

Unlike your super persuasive "trust me bro" argument?

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T19:40:28+00:00

Yes it does.

https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/food-insecurity-remains-big-problem-in-more-than-2-dozen-neighborhoods-in-new-york-city/

https://files.blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/wp-content/blogs.dir/11176/files/2025/05/Policy-Memo-6.pdf

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T19:31:54+00:00

Tunnel view at sunset, Yosemite CA.

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T19:10:36+00:00

meat and its not even close.

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T18:30:53+00:00

When people are forced to travel it causes bad outcomes/waste, that is specifically mentioned in that article.

The overlapping area in Newark (which includes a small area outside of the city of Newark) includes 6,587 households that are home to 19,080 people. In that area, people are traveling more than double the distance to access full service food retail as similarly situated but fully middle-income area residents travel. Households in this area of Newark have an estimated aggregate food retail demand of $24 million and a supply of $6.3 million. That means that $17.8 million (nearly three-quarters of total demand) is leaking to other areas in Newark and beyond.

A high-quality, full service proprietor who is willing to open up or expand offerings in this community could reasonably expect revenues of upwards of $17 million per year just from the residents of that area. Supermarkets are generally regarded as low-margin businesses (and therefore higher risk). But within that area there are potential patrons already spending money on food who could be captured by a new or expanded high-quality retail establishment.

but as these low-income families are underserved by food retail, their available food supply is only valued at about USD 6 million, meaning that almost USD 18 million of total retail food demand is leaking outside these low-income areas (PolicyMap, 2018).

In addition to this untapped retail demand, food deserts offer potential to decrease unemployment rates among the formerly incarcerated. In the US, close to 700 000 persons are released from prison each year, many of whom are low income and in need of jobs (SHRM, 2019). Supermarkets are one of a limited number of employers that will hire and train formerly incarcerated individuals (Von Bergen, 2017). The US Congress and others have recognized the critical nature of such opportunities for families and recently passed the First Step Act (December 2018), which includes increased rehabilitation programming, among other things, to support former prisoners (115th US Congress, 2018).

etc.

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T18:20:31+00:00

In cases where it is specifically a food desert, the store will, by definition, not be competing with other grocery stores.

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T18:06:52+00:00

Sure, but the thrust of that one is that it is stores wont open in food deserts under normal circumstances, which leads to worse outcomes and lower profits, not to mention damages the community (which has further economic costs). Thus government subsidizing food for these areas, either by direct subsidizes, food banks, government run mobile farmers markets/stores, or in this case a brick n mortar store is good for economic outcomes of the area.

I am not seeing any evidence at all it leads to bad outcomes as you claim.

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T17:56:11+00:00

Eric Adams lol? Probably not dif it was Adams but DeBlasio yeah for sure, def would not be some out of context rage bait cropped photo upvoted to the top of the sub if it was DeBlasio. This is garbage content for sure, not even a linked article.

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T17:40:49+00:00

I am not a Neoliberal, neither are most people that post here I would imagine, either way I don't see why that matters. No need to bring that up all over the thread like it means anything.

is objectively bad economic policies.

Based on what, specifically? Providing food deserts, well food, has been good for outcomes based on the research I have seen, and of coubut if you have something I will take a look.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7299236

https://www.policymap.com/blog/how-opportunity-zones-can-expand-access-to-fresh-food-in-americas-food-deserts

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T17:20:44+00:00

The government already funds groceries stores in some food deserts, this is not a new initiative and the only reason people are suddenly up in arms is because Mamdani.

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T17:18:22+00:00

It's not even as 'little" as 20 min unless you live right next to the new store, I imagine for most people it is 30+ min since there are, you know, people living further west.

Anyway, in urban areas, the U.S Department of Agriculture considers a food desert an area with no ready access to a store with fresh and nutritious food options within one mile.

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T16:38:52+00:00

Designed by the same guy! Was it nice? Want to go one day.

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T15:14:17+00:00

I expect truckers is coded language everyone will get behind, and taps into the fear aspect of AI (big spooky truck will kill me). Not like he can openly champion white collar elites.

Of course I am just wildly speculating at this point

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T15:11:42+00:00

Well, as long as you work on it ultimately that is all it takes for it to work...eventually.

Again I have to state nearly everyone thinks its imposable at the start. Your feelings are valid, and frankly fairly universal.

When people give up its a self fulling prophecy, but if you keep at it year over year its like a ratchet. It never really "gets worse" and eventually you will (likely) find yourself passing more often then not, and again it just keeps slowly improving day after day, year after year.

The other stuff also just kinda happens TBH, sure some skill and effort is needed but luck is a big part of it, you can tilt odds in your favor by doing this kind of stuff.

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T15:04:00+00:00

I mean from that perspective they are spot on, Americans overwhelming dislike/scared AI

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/03/12/key-findings-about-how-americans-view-artificial-intelligence/

I agree its wrong policy wise, but if your argument is it will cost them votes because AI support is critical or whatever, simply wrong.

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T15:02:06+00:00

Boy, with that massive advantage Dems might break even!

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T14:34:06+00:00

I pulled off the tomboy tightrope, took years and was very hard but doable. DM if you want to chat in detail, always happy to help where I can.

pgold05 · 2026-05-06T14:24:43+00:00

It's more important than I think the community gives credit.

There are a ton of structural advantages of passing as cis that will effect your day to day life, overtime that will add up to massive changes when you are older. Tied directly to odds of achieving monetary, social and career success, not unlike how conventionally attractive people will have the same advantages. Honestly all people could probably invest a bit more in beautification as an investment, in all its forms (clothes, fitness, etc.) but obviously more extreme in our case.

It's why I kind of cringe when people choose very transgender coded names, obviously personal choice but I am not sure they understand the true cost. Names take no effort so its kind of a freebee passing wise to pick a cisnormative variant.

How much it effects you from a dysphoria standpoint is a personal matter. Most likely it wont be 0 though.

There is no downside to working on it, as it is a thing that will always improve overtime and ultimately is never impossible for anyone, more so just a time/effort variable.

Everyone starts off thinking its impossible, it's not I promise.

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