A win for urban planning: Supermarkets potentially on their way to New Jersey cities
Walk through the streets of Newark, Jersey City, Camden, Paterson, Atlantic City, or even a smaller city like New Brunswick, and look for a supermarket. Surely, you will find an abundance of markets, but how about the modern, well-stocked supermarkets—where you can get nutritious food at fair prices—that are ubiquitous in the suburbs?
Rare. Your search will likely be a failure.
The reasons? Plenty.
Businesses rely on revenue generation, and the spenders are likely to be found in the suburbs, where shoppers can park, grab a cart, and stock that cart with an abundance of fresh foods. From the pure economic standpoint, those with cars are likely to spend more money than their walking/biking counterparts, since there is more cargo space in which to transport the goods.
The suburbs are also ground zero for supermarkets because in New Jersey, that is where the money resides. It would be a poor business decision to open and upkeep a supermarket in an area where incomes are low.
Other concerns, whether mere perception or not, include higher insurance premiums and a likelihood of criminal activity.
We cannot blame supermarket companies for their lack of presence in urban areas. After all, it’s a business, and scare resources must be allotted where the spenders live.
However, we can blame all levels of government for not scheming up some inducements to lure supermarket chains into our cities.
Want to change existing land uses in our cities?
Provide the incentive.
Outlay grants and tax abatements; work with, rather than fight, developers with solid proposals; and fast track applications that will benefit our urban areas.
The New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan (SDRP) is long-standing policy, with the goal of pulling development potential out of the suburbs, exurbs, and rural areas and pushing it into the urban areas, where there is existing infrastructure and redevelopment is necessary. And, just recently, I wrote that the New Jersey Economic Stimulus Act of 2009, which is an omnibus bill aimed at generating development activity in urban areas, is completely consistent with long-term smart growth and economic development goals.
How do supermarkets fit in with the SDRP and the New Jersey Economic Stimulus Act of 2009? Just like why it is rare to find a supermarket in an urban area, there are plenty of reasons why they are needed in our cities.
The most important reason is access to healthy food options. With obesity and its concomitant health issues, it is imperative that city dwellers have the option of purchasing nutritious foods. I wrote about this need in a May 27 post, in which I cited a University of Alberta study that found that there is a direct linkage between land use and health problems.
The linkage is clear, according to Kim Raine, the lead author of the study:
When we reviewed the evidence we found, for example, that lower-income neighbourhoods were more likely to have greater access to sources of high-calorie foods, such as fast-food outlets, and lower access to supermarkets or other stores stocking healthy foods,” explained Raine. The report also found that a lower socio-economic status - which involves education level, income and employment - was often associated with increased obesity among both adults and children. “Lower personal income affects the affordability of food,” Raine said, “and that has been shown to have the most consistent influence on what people eat.
Therefore, logic dictates, the poorer you are in a city, the more likely that you will consume unhealthy foods and not have access to stores with nutritious food options.
What can be done from the land use perspective?
Recently, the New York City Department of City Planning, noting the dearth of healthy food options in economically depressed sections of the Five Boroughs, outlined a zoning strategy that removes Floor Area Ratio (FAR) controls on ground floor tenant space rented out to grocery stores.
In the same May 27 post, I wrote that the strategy “is an enormous financial benefit to landlords and developers,” as well as a “public health benefit,” since “granting zoning breaks to attract grocery stores is a huge (and obvious) step in combating against the daily junk food assault.” Moreover, there’s an economic development incentive, because grocery stores would not only benefit the existing residents, but they would also serve as a catalyst for a migration to the neighborhood and potentially new development.
Across the Hudson River in New Jersey, a nascent public-private partnership initiative is seeking to lure supermarket companies into urban areas, though low-interest loans funded by a seven million dollar contribution from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA), four million dollars from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA), and a seven million dollar investment from TRF, an investment group, according to a July 22, 2009 article in the Press of Atlantic City.
In Atlantic City, city officials are mulling over “tax abatements as a financial incentive for A&P,” and the CRDA “may offer A&P a mortgage abatement of up to $100,000,” said the article.
Some more noteworthy points from the article:
Supermarkets generate jobs, serve as a catalyst for economic development and provide access to food at affordable prices, said Odis Jones, director of urban development for the Economic Development Authority.
Donald Hinkle-Brown, president of lending and community investment at TRF, said New Jersey will be the second state behind Pennsylvania to have such a supermarket program. TRF has leveraged $30 million in state funding from Pennsylvania for $116 million of total investment for 70 grocery stores in the Keystone State.
As someone who is concerned about access to healthy food options (especially in urban areas, since they are surefire economic development generators), beyond the May 27 post, I’ve written about the need to save funding for the “Jersey Fresh” program, as well as the spike in urban farming.
I’m a firm believer that by locating ample grocery stores in our urban areas through government inducements, residents will be healthier and our cities will be more vibrant and suitable for residential development—both goals of the SDRP.
Although more information is needed to assess the NJ public-private partnership initiative and its potential impact on our cities, on its face, it’s innovative, sensible, and much-needed, especially since it meshes well with the SDRP and the New Jersey Economic Stimulus Act of 2009.
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