Subtle Dynamic of the City - June 28, 2004
As part of LAUP, I took a tour of East LA today and noticed something: poorer neighborhoods have a lot of fast food establishments. (Oddly enough, urban youth tend to have a disproportionate problem of malnutrition and obesity.)
The lack of average chain-style restaurants has a subtle but surprising impact on the community: no places for a family to spend time together eating out. Sizzlers, Applebee’s, Red Robin, Chevy’s…these are “family restaurants.” But when a family is tired or busy, or wants to celebrate something, where do they go?
The real question is: are these restaurants unable or unwilling to move into a neighborhood like this. These are a lot of dynamics that would keep them away. But some choose not to even when it would be a profitable move.
Subtle. Difficult to notice or diagnose or fix. But insidious nonetheless.