LFKhael t1_j0zg6k1 wrote on December 20, 2022 at 3:47 PM

Reply to comment by ltahaney in $56M contract approved to design proposed Camden-Gloucester light rail line by Dryheavemorning

>Serious question: have you ever ridden the river line?

For fucking years. It has two grocery stores. Trying to find things it actually connects to outside of Trenton and Camden is an exercise in frustration.

ltahaney t1_j0zhb56 wrote on December 20, 2022 at 3:54 PM

I completely agree with you there. I think the issue is way more than the riverline, though.

I lived in Bristol borough. Walked everywhere in town and could do almost anything I needed to day-to-day, except grocery shopping. There was one, which is quite bad, especially with regards to fresh produce/healthy food. And it price gouged like crazy. A massive barrier to bristol's ability to be a good car place to live totally car free.

More broadly, the United States has a specific major shortcoming regarding grocery stores. Domination of the big box style grocery store has completely strangled any human-not-car scale grocery stores compatitiveness. Even in the city grocery stores often still have massive setbacks and surface parking. There are a huge numbers of complex reasons for this, not the least of which is the market. You can't just greenfield a grocery store which inconveniences car drivers when they can go 5minutes down the road to a "better" one. So populate the area first with dense housing, but then there is no grocery store...etc etc.

It goes way deeper than the riverline, and it's extremely hard to find a compelling alternative stateside.

LFKhael t1_j0zigly wrote on December 20, 2022 at 4:02 PM

>I think the issue is way more than the riverline, though.

My frustration about the lack of development is aimed at the people, not the government. NJT did their part to build it...and the people just aren't there for it despite how good it could be. It's why I'm not getting my hopes up for the Camden-Gloucester line.