Comments on: House Hunting

By: Lisa Carlton

Lisa Carlton — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 12:51:53 +0000

Welcome back to Austin! Have you checked out Central Austin Cohousing? I noticed that they have reopened membership for their new community.

House hunting in Austin made us nuts. I look forward to meeting you.

Peace,
Lisa

By: nitika

nitika — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:06:15 +0000

And in a truly free market… prices would merely be a reflection of supply and demand. Hopefully you will be a small force to increase the demand for veggies in the area, willing to pay the high price for them. Suppliers will respond to the incentive for high profit by boosting supply, and the price will come down. Vegetables only come if people want them.

Much of the problem in impoverished neighborhoods, is that people don't know how to cook. Cooking with vegetables, even organic ones, is still less expensive than a lot of the junk (subsidized though it may be) food that people choose. The corn and soy subsidies make some things cheaper to produce than they should be, but they are still wildly overpriced for what they are in terms of nutrition.

In many cities, due to various urban renewal efforts, the so called "inner city" has actually gone very upscale, with poorer people leaving in droves to older (run down) suburban areas where housing is less expensive. Somewhat of a reverse of the white flight phenomenon. Is this the case in Austin? I certainly don't see the categories of "inner city" and "suburban" the way I used to.

By: Mike Clawson

Mike Clawson — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 03:02:28 +0000

No, but transferring the subsidies from junk food ingredients to healthy food instead would.

By: Karl

Karl — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:27:49 +0000

Would doing away with those subsidies lower the price of healthy food for low income inner city residents?

By: Mike Clawson

Mike Clawson — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:01:51 +0000

Probably not Karl, which then raises all sorts of questions about why junk food is so much less expensive than healthy food. Hint: it has a lot to do with government agri-business subsidies for the big cash crops (corn, soy beans, etc.) that most of our processed foods are made out of (whether directly or indirectly).

By: Karl

Karl — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:02:18 +0000

I wonder, would a store that sold the more expensive healthy food be able to survive in most low income neighborhoods? I know there are some people in those neighborhoods who would make the economic sacrifice necessary to patronize such a store, but are there enough of them for the store to be able to make a profit?

City eating, where only the wealthy can afford to eat healthily. Sounds like fodder for a Wendell Berry essay.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:44:52 +0000

Julie- I am envying that you are moving to Austin, even if it isn't in one of the "weirder" parts. If I remember right, you may not have access to the health food stores, but you will most likely be down the block from a stellar real Mexican restaurant. Yum…

Please, for the love of all that is good in the world, don't go suburban. Ryan & I are still slapping ourselves for living in Cedar Park for all those years instead of in the heart of Austin. Start a commune and a garden if you must.

By: Julie Clawson

Julie Clawson — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:30:26 +0000

Rick – sorry about the typo, that does change the meaning… I'll change that. my brain is not on functioning mode these days…

bob – we are looking all over. Mueller is a bit out of our range, but we've looked near there. We'd love to connect with you soon.

lydia – I totally understand about the "place to sleep" thing. but I feel that we do have some choice in the matter here. We will go for comfortable, good schools, and cookie cutter or slightly dangerous and inner-city or somewhere in between…???

By: bob c

bob c — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:15:40 +0000

hey julie

have ya'll looked at mueller ? http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/mueller/

we'd love to have ya'll over for dinner some time in the next few weeks

By: cindy

cindy — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:35:16 +0000

Julie- your observation about food choices is one of my soapboxes from Alabama. I discovered years ago that if I go to a grocery store in areas of town where there are more people on welfare and more minorities (who are actually majority here so the term is a total misnomer) i can't buy lean meat, whole grain pasta, skinless chicken or such things, but I could buy fat back in gigantic slabs (they put it right where the other stores might have the lobsters).

In those areas of town where there is a disproportionate percentage of people with high blood pressure you can't find unsalted canned vegetables. But I go to the wealthier neighborhoods and there are all sorts of healthy options. Even in the same grocery chain there can be a huge difference in inventory. This makes me crazy.