The Grocery Gap

The closing of the Kroger on Gettysburg Avenue got a mention at DaytonOS, but no discussion. The DDN has been providing good coverage, though (and check out the comments section: it’s like watching a train wreck)

The issue is more than just one store.

This is an ongoing problem in urban areas, the development of the "grocery gap" between poor inner-city areas and suburbs (though Gettysburg isn't really inner city). This has also been called the "food desert", part of a larger phenomenon of "retail redlining".


Retail options are confined to small stores (if there are any) with limited selection. For people without cars this imposes a real hassle, as one is forced to arrange rides or use a bus to reach supermarkets. Given RTA's poor schedules this is can be a real chore in the Dayton area, riding and waiting hours for buses and transfers just to reach a supermarket. Some of the research implies health and nutrition issues arising from food deserts.

The concept arose in England (I think), but has certainly been put on the agenda in some US cities. Here is a report on the issue from WMAQ Channel 5 in Chicago: City Planners Want Oasis in Food Desert.

…and a map of the Chicago food desert, with an oasis noted.
It's not impossible to have supermarkets serve urban markets Two I'm familiar with are Delray Farms and Butera, up in Chicago. In Dayton the closest approximation is the Mexican supermarket on Troy Street, which is part of a small chain based in Columbus (though this operation is geared to the Mexican community, not a general purpose super like Delray or Butera).

Another approach, also from Chicago, is to use the TIF mechanism to prep abandoned or underused sites for urban shopping centers in poorer neighborhoods. I think this was used to redevelop a part of the old Sears site at Homan and Roosevelt Road into shopping, serving the Lawndale neighborhood (the “oasis” in the above map) . From what I recall this center had a large laundromat ("Spin Cycle"), a video store, a supermarket (Dominick’s , a Chicagoland chain), a cineplex and some other things.



The New York Times reports what sounds like a similar project in the Kenwood neigborhood on Chicago’s south side.

A TIF approach could be used to develop centrally located sites, like some of the vacant/underused land along Edwin C Moses or the old McCall site off of US 35, into a small shopping center, and perhaps recruit one of the Chicago regionals as anchor.?

Why hasn’t the grocery gap been put on the local public policy agenda?

Perhaps a blind spot with city government? I brought up the lack of good groceries once, in a public forum a few years ago, to the head of the Downtown Dayton partnership, and was given the brush-off. One can see an intial “oh well” attitude in reaction to the Kroger closing, (though it seems Dean Lovelace is taking a more activist stand).

Or perhaps parts of Dayton could be just too poor and depopulated and crime-ridden to support supermarkets, even smaller ones? Kroger claimed that their Gettysburg store has been unprofitable for years, so they were either just breaking even or absorbing a loss, perhaps using this store as some sort of tax write-off?

In any case grocery shopping options for the west/northwest side have become even narrower. And the hassle and nutrition and public health issues arising from lack of grocery stores won’t go away.

For a future Daytonology project, mapping Dayton’s food desert?

Dawn Cooksey at the Nite Owl.

Yer humble host made a rare mid-week stop at the Night Owl last week and discovered this rather interesting local folksinger. Dawn Cooksey. Just a girl and a guitar, heartfelt delivery, and some very, very good songs

I picked up her CD, which has additional backing on some tracks, including harmonica, which really enhances the sound. This is one excellent piece of work, very professional.




Googling her I see she is a Dayton native, lived in Austin for awhile, and then returned to the area to live in Yellow Springs.

Unfortunately, not much in the way of live music dates in the future, but I would make the drive to YS to see her again.

Sounds like: (a too easy comparison) Tracy Chapman, maybe just a touch of the Indigo Girls, though closer to trad/roots music, a certain kind of rootsy country, and modern folk than they are. There is a unique voice here, yet working in and interpreting a music tradition.

So keep an eye out for her. Certainly worth a listen.

BTW, the CD is available her myspace page, linked above.

Gay Rights Issue Heats Up.

The Dayton Daily News has two articles on the developing local gay rights controversy, one on the local clergy wanting to put the breaks on the move to pass antidiscrimination protection, the other on Ohio not having such protections.

It seems that not only the clergy but the NAACP opposes the ordnance, which is ironic as one sees a minority civil rights organization opposing the extension of civil rights protection to other minorities. Civil rights for me but not for thee?

Also, one can see the ministers are quite au courant on the buzzwords to bash lesbians and gays, making a verbal tie between homosexuality and child molestation (a somewhat new meme from the cultural conservatives that I have seen elsewhere):

"If homosexuals and lesbians should have special rights and privileges because of a sexual preference, what is next? With a growing number of sexual predators, pedophilia and other offenders, will they secretly grant these people, groups, special rights do to their sexual preference?"

(from a flier circulated by the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance)

This blatant attempt to rattle some cages is unfortunate and detracts from the message, but the larger issue is worth considering. Apparently the call is to :

A. Stop the city commission vote

B. Have a sort of community discussion on the issue.

C. Put the issue up to a vote via referendum.

Two ways to look at this:

1. Debate, then referendum, ensures if this protection is passed there is solid community support behind it. Some form of community consensus has been reached, pro or con, and the referendum validates this.

2. Unpopular minority groups will never see civil rights protection via direct democracy, as their very unpopularity will lead to defeat of such proposals at the polls.

Yet, is it even relevant if Dayton city passes or doesn't pass such a law?

One wonders if it would be better for the county commission to consider GLBT rights. I prefer this approach as it is both more relevant to the issue and more "regional", covering the bulk of the population and businesses in the Dayton metro area. A countywide antidiscrimination ordnance would also be a "first" for the Dayton area, as no county in Ohio has such a law.

I will be blogging more on the issue as it develops.

Stone Soup Cafe opens on Xenia Avenue

Stone Soup Cafe is a new place on Xenia Avenue. The apparently serve breakfast and lunch. Daytime hours and closed on Sunday. Can't say about the food yet (I will be back to try it): tonight I went for the art show and music.
I found out about this event quite by accident as a waitress at the Oregon Express who is also a photographer told me about it a week or two ago (she was also showing at the event). Since I'm doing some historical research on this neighborhood I was curious (wanted to see the inside of one one of these old stores). She also mentioned the guitarist from Shrug was doing an acoustic set, so I was really curious as this is known to me as an indy rock outfit; not really acoustic/folky.

The event was apparently put on by the Circus, and featured other music artists besides Shrug. (and visual arts, too).

Here are two members of Shrug doing a very good, tight acoustic set, with a fresh breeze coming in through the door and a fluttering US flag outside...
A very positive & good vibe going down that night. One of my more memorable evenings in Dayton.

For more pix click here.

I Know More Than You Do....becuase I have a Masters Degree

I was really gung-ho about the recent DDN op-ed & blog on historic preservation, and posted this comment to their blog, prefacing it with a remark that “Building 26 is water under the bridge”:

Suprisingly I received this arrogant reply from one of the Building 26 activists:

Mary Ann Olding, architectural historian, Cincinnati,OH

November 11, 2007 2:39 PM | Link to this
Thanks to the DDN editorial board for Sunday’s stand on Building 26. My question to Jeffrey and Jimmie is: “What has been your contribution to historic preservation in Dayton or the state of Ohio during the past 30 years? Can it match up to the credentials and hard work of members of the Building 26 Defense Council? Or do you represent those bystanders who have not searched for the facts and now think expressing opposition and exasperation is a brave move?

I think this is a really good example of a professional attempting to play gatekeeper by credentialing potential participants in a discussion (note how she makes a point of listing her job—architectural historian-in her sig line). Also, the snide rhetorical question putting words in peoples’ mouths, imputing movtives (“brave move”).

Though I found the tone offensive in that particular reply, it does bring up a good question. How valid or informative are online discussions or blogs? I know I post a lot on things I have no professional training or credentials in. Blogs are opinion, but one wonders how worthwhile is an opinion if there is no education or training or insider knowlege to back it up? How valid is blogging about activism or politcs if the blogger does not have a track record of involvement?

DJ Ruckus Roboticus at Therapy

(the fellow in glasses, on the left)

DJ Ruckus Roboticus' Saturday CD release party got a lot of mention on Rev Cool's Friday night WYSO show. Apparently Don Thrahser (DDN music writer and ex GBV member) , Rev Cool himself, and some DJs from out-of town were spinning as guests.

I am not a regular Therapy patron, but did go there for a beneft, where I heard this guy do his mixing and spinning. Liked it so much that I returned at a later date when he was on, and picked up two CDs he had for sale, which were also quite interesting.

The new CD was unlike those, much more concept album, more akin to experimental music. I'll let Don Thrasher (via his DDN column) describe it:

On his epic new album "Playing With Scratches," local DJ Ruckus Roboticus takes the listener on a turntablist's journey through hip-hop, musique concrete, comedy albums, old soul 45s, children's music and more. The delectable cut-and-paste songs are crafted entirely from found sounds, with Roboticus intricately employing scratching and beat juggling to a smorgasbord of sounds, from funky beats to vocal samples and spoken word snippets.

I have to say this new CD was unlike anything I've ever heard ..well, maybe early Zappa, Captain Beefhart, or more like Soul Coughing or similar sampler artists. Actually its even beyond that, moving into uncharted musical territory.

Roboticus is another one of those Dayton music artists that are getting some attention from outside of Dayton.

The DDN puts Historic Preservation on the agenda

The DDN has done a great community service with a massive editorial (taking up nearly the entire op-ed page of the Sunday paper) on historic preservation.

Ostensibly about Building 26, the old NCR codebreakers building, the editorial goes well beyond that, addressing the questions of deciding what properties to save, perhaps via a process for a sort of historic preservation triage.

The editorial includes an excellent critique of Dayton History:

Meanwhile, Dayton History, the region's premier organization dedicated to telling Dayton's history, has been totally cowed. No resolutions, no nothing from it about the need to bend over backward to save Building 26. Dayton History can't be fanatical, but it does have to show passion for Dayton's treasures.

I would go much further. Dayton History has abicated activity in local history beyond Carillon Park and NCR archival work. The kind of urban and community history done by the old Montgomery County Historical Society has been abandoned. Dayton History can't even be bothered to put up historic markers.

Case in point are the "Gem City Circle Tours" historic walking tours of downtown. Logically one would expect either preservationists or historic society volunteers to lead these. Instead the tours are being organized independently, by individual unaffiliated with Dayton History. The movement to save the Arcade also started outside of Dayton History and Preservation Dayton.

The City of Dayton comes in for critique:

The City of Dayton is so hungry for any economic development that it hasn't dared to challenge UD's decision.

Another example of this is the city not willing to impose solid urban design guidlines on new construction, like the new drugstores on Wayne and on Salem, resulting in suburban style site planning that destroys the urban character of streets and intersections. The city wants the development so bad they will compromise on good urban design.

The editorial continues with this statement near the end, key point in boldface.

Dayton is lucky to have so much history that's worthy of protection. From the Wright brothers' shop to Paul Laurence Dunbar's home to Sunwatch Indian Village, there is magnificent history here that's worthy of sharing with future generations. And communities across the country are using history of far less consequence to drive economic development.

To be rich in something and not know or appreciate it is a tragedy.

Yes exactley. Good examples are St Louis, Cincinnati, and, for industrial history , overseas, the Ruhr region in Germany.

The DDN op-ed blogger Eddie Roth continued the discussion at his blog

Building 26 is not the only endangered historic site in the Dayton region, and there are not enough resources to save everything worth saving.

With that in mind, what other properties should make the “A List” for preservation or reuse?

By what process and criteria should this community select the vital few?

How might they be preserved or adapted?

But if you surf in to that link, you'll note the dim bulb respondents just want to talk about Building 26, not the bigger issues highlighted by Roth and discussed by the editorial.

The reason Dayton is weak in historic preservation is that the people who live in the Dayton metropolitan area are are not interested in it and don't get it. That they have rejected the living history of the city, prefering a brand called "history" sold at certain locations and venues.

History is a canal boat ride in Piqua or watching Blue Jacket or visitng Carillon Park, or antiquing in Lebanon and Waynesville, not the old buildings, factories, churhces and neighborhoods of the city of Dayton, nor the history of the common people who lived and worked in these places.