A recap of this week’s equity news 

“N.A.A.C.P. Calls for Economic Equity,” - New York Times

BALTIMORE — The N.A.A.C.P. celebrated its centennial Thursday by calling on the Obama administration and Congress to spend more on education, establish a nine-month moratorium on foreclosures and ensure that the stimulus package is distributed equitably.

Federal lawmakers must guarantee fair hiring practices for new jobs at a time when black unemployment — consistently higher than it is for whites — is in double digits, the group said in a 38-page report describing its policy goals for the year.

“Wal-Mart eyes 12 Chicago ‘food desert’ sites,” - Chicago Sun-Times 

Wal-Mart is scouting 12 properties in Chicago’s “food desert” neighborhoods for new stores that sell groceries, a Wal-Mart spokesman said Friday.

About 500,000 Chicagoans live in food deserts with no easy access to mainstream grocery stores.

“Mixed-income housing debated,” - The Times-Picayune

Angela Glover Blackwell argued that a person’s neighborhood has become a proxy for his social mobility. Affluent areas tend to offer access to jobs, public transit, grocery stores and quality public education, and their residents often have longer life expectancy than those in poorer neighborhoods.

Blackwell said developers often try to lift up struggling areas by introducing market-rate apartments and hoping they will attract professional people who have a choice of where to live. But she said such a strategy sends the wrong message, by telegraphing that revitalization cannot come at the hands of the people who already live there.

A recap of the week’s equity news

 ”Farmers’ market trying to attract food stamp users,” - Toledo Blade

Farmers’ markets are practically overflowing this time of year with fresh, healthy produce - corn, zucchini, watermelon, tomatoes, and more.

But many of the most nutritionally needy consumers don’t shop often at farmers’ markets.

“The Trouble with Transportation,” - Newsweek
High gas prices have dimmed private equity’s hopes of rosy returns on infrastructure and transportation projects. Government could be the loser

For private equity investors, the sheen is wearing off purchases of public asphalt. A year ago, banks and private investment firms were racing to pour money into infrastructure projects such as highways and light-rail systems. Compared with an investment in stocks, buying or leasing a highway seemed like a low-risk bet with easily estimated, long-term returns. After all, competing highways or mass transit systems couldn’t just spring up overnight to divert toll- and ticket-paying customers.

But $4-a-gallon gasoline slowed the enthusiasm for such projects. Many commuters are choosing to leave their cars in the garage and take mass transit, or don’t have a job to drive to anymore. “If you look at the publicly reported forecasts for the Chicago Skyway or Wall Street estimates of global traffic, they are completely different now,” said George Bilicic, a managing director at NYC private equity firm Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts who spoke on a panel held Sept. 3 at the University of Minnesota. “It goes into the risk assessment associated with the investment decision.”

“Miles of Aisles for Milk? Not Here,” - New York Times

HARMAR TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Like cars and homes, grocery stores are beginning to shrink.

After years of building bigger stores — many larger than a football field and carrying 60,000 items — retailers are experimenting with radically smaller grocery stores that emphasize prepared meals, fresh produce and grab-and-go drinks.

The idea is to lure time-starved shoppers who want to pick up a few items or a fast meal without wandering long grocery aisles or paying restaurant prices.

Justin, from the new Chicago start-up nonprofit MoveSmart.org, noted in the comments of an earlier post on the new Tesco Fresh and Easy small supermarkets moving into low-income neighborhoods that there are some other chains trying to bring low-cost food to these neighborhoods. He writes:

In Chicago there’s a network of Aldi stores. They are a German chain that offers very cheap groceries (sometimes 50% of what you find in the major chain stores) and have locations in many impacted neighborhoods. Aldi stores, however, have a large footprint and can’t be easily inserted into existing retail space. I hope that Tesco plans to come to Chicago and try some infill - there’s a number of food deserts around the city that could use it!

In the meantime, there are some folks here working to get fresh fruits and veggies into ‘corner stores’ - http://gapersblock.com/drivethru/2008/04/11/big_bodega_love/

As a former Chicagoan myself (and sometime-Aldi shopper) I concur with Justin’s critique that the Aldi’s footprint is too big to work in some of these communities. The prices are pretty incredible, though.

Also, take the time to check out the fledgling MoveSmart.org site. They’re trying something pretty cool. Here’s part of their mission statement:

Until now, information on neighborhoods has been buried in the back of academic reports, pinned to community center bulletin boards, and locked in data sets only available to planners, inaccessible to those who would benefit from it the most: housing seekers looking for a better neighborhood. MoveSmart.org will leverage the power of this information by combining these and other data sources into a single mapping engine built into a full-featured site that includes guides, tools, calculators, forums, and social networks, all designed to foster racial and economic integration.

And here’s a video explaining why they’re doing what they do (set to one of the best horn samples around, “Make the Road by Walking” by Menahan Street Band)