14 Comment

• NotCommonsense December 16, 2015 at 8:50 am

  The City of Houston is charging someone for a marriage proposal!? Another bullet point in the The lefists’ Annise Parkers War on Christmas and Marriage.
• The Roanoker December 16, 2015 at 9:44 am

  The food desert argument does not hold much weight in a city where even the poorest of the poor have cars.
• Memebag December 16, 2015 at 9:45 am

  The food desert article is kind of unrealistic. My house is in a “food desert” according to that map, even though we have 7 supermarkets within easy driving distance. It’s true that it’s a bit of a hike to the closest store on foot, but who walks to the grocery store in the suburbs? In Houston?
• I love Heights Walmart December 16, 2015 at 9:52 am

  the ‘food desert’ map is missing 2 Krogers in the Heights, the Kroger on W. Grey, the Kroger at Polk and Cullen, and that’s just at first glance! Pretty sloppy work!!
• I love Heights Walmart December 16, 2015 at 9:57 am

  and the greatest of all insults, the ‘food desert’ map is missing the Heights Walmart as well!!!
• XCellKen December 16, 2015 at 10:30 am

  Dear Memebag;

  I routinely WALK to the West University Krogers. Really nice since the Upper Kirby TIRZ people put in those nice new wide sidewalks.

  Takes me approximately seven minutes to get there, btw.

  I also routinely walk around Lakewood Church, whatever that means
• Derek December 16, 2015 at 10:44 am

  We need a better definition of “Food Desert.” Right now, a middle class, suburban neighborhood is getting a $18mil handout for new roads because it was declared a food desert because there were no nearby grocery stores http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/sarnoff/article/Infrastructure-projects-target-food-desert-6497012.php . A true food desert is where the locals don’t have convenient access to fresh food and don’t have the economic resources to access a grocery or relocate to somewhere where they could live near a grocery store. The problem is, we’re providing aid to people who can either afford the commute to a grocery store or have the economic means to relocate if they so desired.
• Gisgo December 16, 2015 at 11:09 am

  Food deserts are necessary to carry the blame for obesity/poor nutrition/sugary drinks etc etc. The ingesting parties are not responsible for what goes into their bodies. Public funds are required to move officially-approved food markets closer to the nutritionally challenged, so they can walk to them and carry back heavy groceries.
• I love Heights Walmart December 16, 2015 at 11:24 am

  We clearly need more stores stocked to the ceiling with fatty, salty, sugary, starchy, processed foods so that these things are more readily available to people who are obviously not getting enough calories in their diets.
• JB December 16, 2015 at 12:20 pm

  I agree that the data used for the food desert article is poor. The Randall’s and Kroger at S. Post Oak and W. Bellfort as well as the Foodarama just a bit south on S. Post Oak are all missing. Somehow they captured the run-down convenience stores though.
• Rex December 16, 2015 at 2:00 pm

  Funny how once a few new folks move in and they get an nice grocery store then they complain that their neighborhood is being taken over.
• Chris Andrews December 16, 2015 at 2:15 pm

  I think the geolocating was a bit sloppy. The West Gray Kroger shows up at the corner of I-45 and I-69/US-59. Also, there are stores on that map that no longer exist. No Heights Walmart, no Heights Sprouts.

  Also, showing the area east of Airline south of 610 as a food desert is misleading. You can get a glutton of fruits and veggies at the Canino Farmers Outlet.
• joel December 16, 2015 at 8:51 pm

  Food deserts are a symptom, not a cause. Poverty feeds off poverty and you would think the lack of access to decent and stable jobs in these areas is more important than a lack of grocery stores.
  .
  Derek, can you please provide the average income of the surrounding populations for the area you’ve highlighted along with crime and school ratings? If this is what we consider middle class then we might as well burn the whole city down and start over again. I think it’s a smart and long overdue plan to retain more tax revenue within the city limits and keep it from seeping out to the burbs. More importantly, this area is in desperate need of more retail and jobs and is all but guaranteed to pay for itself in a decent amount of time. Whether it’s needed or not doesn’t mean the ROI makes it a very sensible move compared to a vast number of other city expenditures.
• G's Louise December 17, 2015 at 8:02 am

  “Where even the poorest of the poor have cars.” Try hanging around the Wheeler Metro stop for about 5 minutes. Every day I see a dozen people getting into a train or bus with Fiesta groceries and it looks like it utterly sucks.