General Discussion

I believe he is proposing city-owned stores for under-served areas that are shunned by private grocery store operators.

Mamdani’s proposal is consistent with the Social Democratic principle of using government to fill in where the market fails. I think city-owned, or possibly subsidized grocery stores is an idea that could work in high density areas that are under-served.

I live in a patch of urban sprawl in the PNW. The closest grocery store is a ten minute drive, and the quality of the store has declined for the last thirty years. It doesn’t resemble something you would expect in a developed country. Many people drive much further to avoid that store, or just order deliveries from some other stores. The economics of food distribution seems to be going from bad to worse in the US.

This summer I visited Hamburg and I'm staying in Helsinki for ~ two months. These are livable cities with high walkability and excellent transport systems. There are four really good grocery stores within walking distance (5 minutes to 15 minutes) from where I live. There are wide sidewalks with adjacent bicycle lanes that are heavily used. Delivery people go whizzing by on bicycles and electric scooters, including one-wheelers. A delivery start-up recently put robot delivery boys into operation.

Why can't Americans have nice things?