The Hidden Cause of Food Deserts

Grocery store shelves. Photo by Sophie Bolich.

Every day at The Overhead Wire we sort through over 1,500 news items about cities and share the best ones with our email list. Each week, we take some of the most popular stories and share them with Urban Milwaukee readers. They are national (or international) links, sometimes entertaining and sometimes absurd, but hopefully useful.

Rhode Island could consider being a developer: Rhode Island voters approved $120m in bonds for affordable housing in order to address the housing shortage. But up to $10m of that money could also be used to support public housing development and advocates think that creating a public development company could be the answer. The idea is gaining steam around the country and is an opportunity for states to do more decoupled from federal funding. (Jared Brey | Governing)

The great abandonment: After the cold war Bulgarians left villages in droves to find work in cities, leaving behind homesteads and places they had farmed. Over 300 villages have been abandoned and in their place nature has taken over, giving us a look at what natural regeneration would look like after humans are gone. Abandonment also has its unknowns as the changes can be unpredictable but there are also opportunities for a world impacted by climate change. (Tess McClure | The Guardian)

Hidden cause of food deserts: The consolidation of grocery stores has accelerated since the 1980s and Stacey Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self Reliance writes that change coincided with the rise of food deserts around the country. The culprit seems to be the lack of enforcement, starting in the Reagan administration, of the Robinson Patman Act which was passed in 1936 to protect smaller retailers from big ones. (Stacey Mitchell | The Atlantic)

Bill would keep cities from opting out of transit: A bill that would keep cities from being able to opt out of Wayne county transit funding obligations passed the Michigan House and is headed to the Senate. It would require 17 cities including Detroit, which has its own bus system, to be a part of a future funding vote. A countywide transit millage that would fund SMART bus service will come up for a vote in 2025. (Beth LeBlanc | The Detroit News)

Fashionista to well known urbanist: Menswear icon Derek Guy is known for his fashion education and takedowns on social media, but he’s also one of the biggest advocates outside of the urbanism space for pushing back on auto dependency and promoting walkable communities. He argues that sprawl and auto dependence has led to bland business-casual attire as well as a reduction in hat wearing and tailored pants. (Aaron Short | Streetsblog USA)

Quote of the Week

There are even drivers who don’t think it’s a big deal. Well, it is a big deal … increasing the risk of crashes and compromising safety for all road users.

-Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker in the Philadelphia Inquirer discussing a law she signed banning motor vehicles from stopping in bike lanes.

This week on the Talking Headways podcast, writer Rob Walker to talk about his book, City Tech: 20 Apps, Ideas, and Innovations Changing the Urban Landscape.

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