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Chang-Diaz: Whole Foods needs to create affordable-housing fund or stay the hell away from JP
By adamg on Sun, 05/01/2011 - 12:16pm
The Jamaica Plain Gazette posts a copy of a letter from state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz to the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council's Whole Foods Ad Hoc Committee, in which she says the benefits of 100 decent paying jobs and better access to healthy food are outweighed by displacement of poor people by the well to do:
We stand to lose many of these families, and their friends and neighbors, if property taxes and rents balloon so fast that their incomes can’t keep up. In order to preserve the character of JP that we all love and believe in so deeply, development has to happen at a pace our neighbors can benefit from, not be displaced by.
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Comments
Ugh
n/t
Chang-Diaz: sleazy shakedown
What a shakedown. Pay into the affordable housing racket so we can hire her developer friends to use eminent domain, knock down the houses of the families friends and neighbors, and build "townhomes".
Here's an idea Sonia Chang-Diaz, how about raising the incomes of the families, friends and neighbors?
What is wrong with these people?!?
This whole debate, if you can call it that, has become completely comical.
If you are worried about pricing out the neighborhood, so what? Look at the history of Boston, transitions of people moving from one community to another based on race and economics has occurred since the city was formed. Its the natural progression of a city, it is what makes the city grow and improve, for everyone.
Is this standpoint heartless, somewhat, but do you really want the neighborhood to stay the same? Where is the new money going to come in to fix the roads and improvements to infrastructure, provide police and fire protection, invest in business? Why would a bank / credit union give a loan for a neighborhood that has no prospects of future mobility?
You have to move with progress for the best of society even if a few are left behind.
Shake meet Down
Exactly.
Great Idea
Turn JP into Cambridge... Lots of young people who leave once they start careers, because they can't afford to live in proper adult housing at the market rates. But the poor people are kept around with lots of subsidized apartments and condos.
Don't worry, politicians: the poor people with subsidies will give you enough votes, and the disgruntled people have to leave, so they can't vote against you.
That's been happening for
That's been happening for decades and JP hasn't turned into Cambridge yet. I've lived in JP for over 20 years and throughout this time have lost plenty of friends and neighbors (primarily white, but also Asian, African-American, and Latino) to cheaper places and places with better schools, including Brookline, Roslindale, West Roxbury, Mattapan, Vermont, Arizona, New Mexico and Florida. Unless people knew 20 years ago that Whole Foods was coming on 2011 and started jacking up rents and housing prices then, Whole Foods really can't be blamed.
I'm starting to think that the problem is that because there are Whole Foods markets in Wellesley and Newton and Hingham, people think Whole Foods made those places what they are. I challenge anyone who hasn't done so to visit the Whole Foods in Brighton. Stand in the parking lot, look around, tell me what has "gentrified" there because of Whole Foods and how it's any different from JP. Go to the little Cambridge Whole Foods Store and do the same thing. Brighton isn't Wellesley, and that neighborhood in Cambridge has a pretty diverse population and retail district with both locally-owned stores and national chains.
Funny you should mention that
Funny you should mention that Whole Foods in Central/Area4 of Cambridge. look up and down Prospect Street. Those nice conversions, new construction, and the renovations next door... they're subsidized, for poor people. Nicer than what most of the non-subsidized neighbors live in. They get away with this because the universities keep cycling fresh people through the overpriced non-subsidized housing, and those people are too busy working to pay attention to what's going on.
The real evil isn't Whole Foods
Kristie Helms tweets:
Samuel Miller agrees:
causing blight isn't a bug, it's a feature
The last two paragraphs of the Wall Street Journal article on the controversy were devastating on this point:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487046...
I don't even understand Rent-a-Center
You can go use a web browser for free at the library, to get used furniture off CraigsList for the same price as a month of RaC.
That's what I do, and I'm well over the official poverty level. All my money is spent on rent, taxes, and medical insurance. No money for RaC large flatscreen TVs or gaudy princess bedroom sets.
RaC seems to be for the illiterate, and those who want to pretend they can afford luxuries that they can't.
?
I know people who've used RaC to get furniture to do stagings at open houses. Also people in town for short term stays rent furniture. But sure, go ahead, used code words to hide your racism, like it's not obvious.
OK, so there are exceptions...
Sure, this a free-market economy, and there's nothing wrong with Rent-a-Center existing for the reasons you mention. But it's a sign of bigger problems of financial illiteracy and media/societal pressure to have only nice, new things and to have them NOW.
One trick Pony
Hey sm4269a,
You toss baseless accusations of racism at people in just about every thread I see you post in. Get a grip.
Y'know...
I am really, really tired of YOUR aggressive and nonsensical race-baiting on this board. Rent-a-center doesn't bother you, but people who point out that it's a predatory company that thrives on poor people are using racist code words? This seems to be your M.O. on this board and it's truly obnoxious and ignorant. Go on the Boston Herald or Globe discussion boards and you'll find enough genuine rackets and bigots to keep you busy forever, but to make these ad hominem accusations of racism against posters who have demonstrated no such thing is tiresome.
Rent a Center
Yeah, it's a great example of people being sucked into generations of poverty because of financial illiteracy. It's hard to blame the individuals, because when you're surrounded by family and a community who are horrified by anything used or makeshift and would even go so far as to call you a bad parent for using such things, it's hard to just do your own thing and ignore all this. Similar patterns surround using expensive check-cashing places because someone knows lots of people who were charged huge bank fees they didn't understand, thus thinks banks rip people off no matter what.
What really needs to happen is community education initiatives around financial literacy. I wish that people were focusing on this instead of attacking Whole Foods, which should be welcome in the community since it sells healthy staples at reasonable prices and provides great benefits and compensation to workers who largely don't need a degree or specialized training.
Right now, the media has more influence on financial decisions than actual facts, and people are suffering because of this. I work with a number of parents of toddlers who will tell me about their financial problems and I find that they're paying up the ass for cable bills and a Rent-a-Center TV and computer because their child needs to watch educational TV and play computer games, not knowing that research shows that screen time is harmful to toddlers' development and that inexpensive blocks and dolls are good for it. How about if some of the community activists stop whining about Whole Foods and put some time and energy into teaching families about promoting learning in toddlers, healthy eating, sound financial decisions for families, etc.
yes. absolutely. here here.
what eeka said.
Stupid people
Do stupid things. It's there because they know they can prey on the poor.
For a poor person, with bad planning skills, and a lack of a bank account; it can be VERY hard to save up 3-4 months of money to buy something, rather then rent it month to month on your hourly wages. Especially for items like stoves, fridges, ect.
It's like the clunker car paradox.
You end up putting $500 or more into your old clunker every 3-4 months just to keep it running, but you need it to get you around. You can't save up for a better car because of that expense.
She could have been a contender
With her looks, multi-ethnic heritage and astronaut pedigree, Sonia could have been a contender for city-wide or state-wide office.
Instead, she's following in Diane's shoes, sleazy racial pandering and shakedown politics. This might even give a lot of her JP and South End supporters second thoughts.
Maybe she thought this letter would not get out, but she's playing this poorly. Even Sanchez is coy enough to play it both ways. Arroyo is dumb as a rock and I think we'll see the back of him this November.
Come on, how about
Come on, how about acknowledging the obvious? Whole Foods did some market research and found out that JP is already full of yuppies, they're not trying to open in a predominantly low income Latino neighborhood because that would be a stupid business decision.
Quit pining for the myth of JP diversity. Latinos and whites never really lived or shopped together. How about giving the yuppies credit for reviving the neighborhood, who do you think fixed up the houses and brought in the dining and shopping options people rave about? Tres Gatos aint Latino. I'm sorry this hack is worried about the people who might shop at Whole Foods, they're just the type to maintain their property and get involved with their childrens' schools, what a nightmare!
Chang-Diaz: Whole Foods needs to create affordable-housing fund
Yes! It has been the middle class people who have invested in the Hyde Square neighborhood by buying homes here and fixing them up. And that has made this neighborhood better and safer for everyone. Their presence has also created a market for the stores and restaurants which are now popular. And we long-time residents of all races and classes are very, very glad of this change, whether or not we all say it out loud. We know how it used to be, and it wasn't good.
Chang-Diaz obviously isn't smart enough to be an elected official--let's hope someone less dumb replaces her next election.
Who will replace her?
No one can beat her in the D primary, and it is highly unlikely that an R could win the 2nd Suffolk District.
Which is a very good argument
for eliminating the archane, pointless, and excessively restrictive requirement that voters be required to declare a party choice in order to receive a ballot to vote in a primary election.
Give the voters real choices by putting all primary candidates, regardless of party affiliation, on a single ballot with the instruction next to each race - Vote For One Only.
So I guess this means that
So I guess this means that all the commenters above area against extorting funds from downtown developers as well. Or is that good extortion.
no variances
The thing about Whole Foods, it's just a supermarket taking the place of another supermarket.
No variances on use, height, density, parking, signage, setback, shadows or anything else needed. Just a Common Victualler's License needed. The city's not giving up anything, so they can't ask for anything.
Um, Adam?
That's not a copy of a letter in the Globe; it's a link to the Boston Slutwalk.
Oops!
Fixed, thanks.
Shakedown?
A shakedown assumes someone "profits". In this case, nobody is benefiting except the neighborhood as a whole.
Wholefoods benefits moving into a neighborhood where decades of work has made it a business-friendly neighborhood. They can give back to the community, just as the BRA elicits linkage funds from many developers all over the city. Wholefoods fully acknowledges that their impact drives up property values when they open a new store. They can help alleviate the impact they will have in driving renters out.
Please back up your claims
Can you show any data which shows that the presence of a Whole Foods has had any impact on the surrounding property rates?
really?
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_arc...
I thought it was beyond controversy. Hell, John Mackey says so himself.
Errr...
If my sarcasm sensor is out of whack, I apologize in advance.
If not, I weep for education in this country. A comment made in a short article FOUR YEARS AGO is, of course, not data. It is a comment made in a short article four years ago.
Tell me the Whole Food haters in JP have something more than this to justify their campaign?
Fire Sonia Chang-Diaz for her Anti-Business Statements
A Facebook campaign has just been started opposing Sonia Chang-Diaz and her anti-biz statements.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fire-Sonia-Chang-Diaz/213930038635756
The 'Fire Sonia Chang-Diaz’ page was created to serve as platform for residents of the Second Suffolk Massachusetts State Senate District to voice their opposition against State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz and her recent anti-business statements.
We are a multicultural, intergenerational group of 2nd Suffolk residents and natives who care deeply about the future of the neighborhood and who want to be able to live, work, and raise families here. We are working to stop State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz from creating an anti-business climate in the 2nd Suffolk District. We are not against Sonia Chang-Diaz or anyone who supports her; we are against an anti-business climate in the 2nd Suffolk District.
This powerful campaign is solely the result of the volunteer effort of a grassroots group of folks with no organizational budget or funding from outside organizations, but with limitless passion for what makes a great business community.
;)
Who are the community members
Grassroots has no roots without members. Who are the proud members of this grassroots effort behind the campaign? This smells of astroturf. Sorry to be so skeptical, but when business is involved you never know.
Also how can a group that calls itself "Fire Sonia Chang-Diaz" say "We are not against Sonia Chang-Diaz or anyone who supports her..." You might want to change the name of your group if you are not really against Sen Chang-Diaz because your name implies otherwise.
John
um
anyone can start a facebook group if they have ten seconds of time on their hands. the "whose foods?" group, however, popped up out of nowhere with a flashy website and dozens of canvassers overnight. if there's astroturfing afoot on this issue, i don't think it's coming from this guy.
John, it's a parody
of the Whose Foods website and Facebook page.
She liked Hi-lo well enough.
So I'd say she's not so much anti-business as pro-jobs for her own constituents. She's looking our for her own voters, perhaps to the detriment of a corporation. Corporations have enough friends as it is.
agree with Dan F.
I think in her heart she is concerned about how the continued gentrification will impact the ability for low and moderate income residents and small businesses to remain in the neighborhood. That said, politically speaking this seems like a no-brainer. Most of the residents who are concerned about Whole Foods coming into JP are the community leaders in the neighborhood (leadership isn't defined by how often you post online comments or starting FB pages with catchy names).
Just say what you mean
You want all those pesky poor people out of your neighborhood so you can drive up your property values.
JP is a very business-friendly neighborhood, or WholeFoods wouldn't be trying to move there. This effort is completely transparent.
Sonia, keep doing what you're doing. Your values are strong, and the voters trust you. That is why you were able to defeat a strong entrenched incumbent (before the Feds outed her post-primary), and why you completely dominated last year's re-election.
Just doesn't sound right at all
The Senator's suggestion that a business break its contract is equal to encouraging anyone else to break promises. That just does not sound right at all.
Suggesting that WF buy properties and then rent the properties at below market rate is disingenuous. Setting up a dilemma where either WF break their contract or make a business decision that is impossible creates a crazy set of bad choices.
I didn't vote for her to create either/or situations both of which are bad.
To me the only legitimate concern is that WF may accelerate the economic change in the neighborhood by increasing the number of middle class residents. That however is happening anyway. So what needs to be done is to create an environment where the people who are earning less - can earn more.
This sounds heretical to liberal and Democratic thought (I have never voted Republican - my fingers would not permit it) but sometimes I wonder whether poverty and near poverty is effectively institutionalized. While I am sure this is not the conscious intention I wonder whether the bluster about a WF opening in JP has been an unwitting defense of people staying poor and marginal.
priceless
Yes, Bromley-heath adds so much value to JP - we need more of that... (Respect to great families who happen to live there...)
Fight the issue with legislation not letters
I hope the Senator and electeds around the state back up the wish that corporations were more accountable for ensure communities they do business in with legislation.
We've seen what happens when companies like Fidelity are given sweetheart development deals with no accountability or oversight. We need laws to ENSURE corporations pay taxes & contribute to our communities rather than just hope they do.
Not the right fight
If you want those words to mean anything, then the energy behind them has to be well directed.
Hate Wall Street, hate sweetheart deals, hate companies that bite the hands that make them what they are...but that's just not the case here in any way.
A government that demands "compensation" from a company trying to do business in its district, even when that government is not in any position to do so, is just as problematic as those companies which destroy us for profit.
Run, cubiclegirl, run!
Seriously. A lot of us are waiting.
Its pretty funny reading all
Its pretty funny reading all your ]remarks, certainly got yall panties in a bunch. Get over it no whole foods, i.e your demographic isnt wanted, homogeneity is so passe, so take your hipster/yuppie/whiny expat shit outta here. (like omg, am i speaking in code too?)
Doesn't the Senator have better things to do?
Doesn't Senator Chang-Diaz have better things to do than spend her time making demands upon a grocery store opening up in JP? For Christ's sake, I can't believe I voted for this woman. This is the type of crap that makes me want to move out of the neighborhood. It's a grocery store.
Unbelieveably stupid
I never thought I'd feel sorry for Whole Foods, but my pandering idiot Senator has achieved the near-impossible. Will the $2.50 apples now cost $3 to cover the "community extortion surcharge"?
Chang-Diaz Jumps the Shark
it was bound to happen.