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Los Angeles Moves to Ban Quick-Service Restaurants in “Poor Areas”

Posted on August 8th, 2008 11:01am by Nancy Nichols
Filed under Restaurant News

When I was a child, in the Middle Ages, we were taught to be very afraid of Russia. Not only were they evil Commies, the government controlled the lives of every day people by making them stand in line for toilet paper. While the Russian kids made toys out of empty vodka bottles, we hung out at M.E. Moses in Preston Forest, went bowling, or took tap dance classes at Buster Cooper. But our favorite activity was sitting at the counter near the pharmacy of Red Rawley’s and eating a huge plate of french fries.

Fast forward to July, 2008: the city council of Los Angeles proposes to suspend the development of quick-service restaurants in South Los Angeles. Why? According to a Los Angeles Times analysis, the 32-mile area has “more fast-food restaurants per capita than other heavily populated sections of the city.” Seems the city thinks they can reduce diabetes and obesity within the economically depressed region.” You can read more about it here.

So, it’s ok for Paula Deen to charge us $20 to clog our arteries but the “poor” can’t buy fried chicken? Let us discuss this while I make a guns out of my empty vodka bottles. Get mad.

11 Comments to “Los Angeles Moves to Ban Quick-Service Restaurants in “Poor Areas””

Trey Garrison @ August 8th, 2008 at 11:20 am

I wonder how unemployment will improve the residents’ diet?
Roman @ August 8th, 2008 at 11:22 am

Another report from the Nanny State.
LakeWWWooder @ August 8th, 2008 at 12:33 pm

In the story about the removal of “the rocket ship” from the Richardson park, I noticed that dirt and grass are now considered unsafe surfaces for playgrounds!

I shall toast “ab absurdum” while emptying the vodka bottle.
jamesn @ August 8th, 2008 at 12:47 pm

I see a new initiative from Dwaine Caraway in the near future.
DGirl @ August 8th, 2008 at 12:48 pm

You can find plenty of those empty vodka bottles on the streets of South LA since there are so many liquor stores.
Dallasite @ August 8th, 2008 at 2:01 pm

So…

Fast food = bad
Liquor stores = good
Michael Davis @ August 8th, 2008 at 2:27 pm

Having grown up in the hood, I can say that too many cheap food joints is bad for any neighborhood when they’re aren’t healthy food choices.

I’m not a fan of them, but this is a bit ridiculous. If they’re not blighted or crime magnets, you’re pretty much stuck with them unless you buy them out.

This is up there with taking the see-saw out of the parks b/c kids get hurt.

In other news, Sonic makes me sleepy.
Michael Davis @ August 8th, 2008 at 2:29 pm

^ poor grammar above (they’re/there) … blame it on fast food?
Gastronome @ August 9th, 2008 at 9:59 am

Hmmmmm…. Somebody out there doesn’t like the free market system we supposedly live in. If fast, fresh, good for you and affordable (if that’s possible) sold well LA’s evil capitalists would rush in. It doesn’t. Why don’t they open restaurants destined to fail? Because they’re not idiots. And what of the small group of minority entrepreneurs who have pooled their savings to buy a McDonald’s franchise for the area, purchased the equipmnet, signed a lease and begun construction – they are being legislated out of business and back into the poor house. The only ones who really win are the businesses which are already up and running – now they’ve got a monopoly! Talk about unintended consequences – apparantly the LA city counsel learned nothing from the failed experiment of Communist planned societies. Even Raul Castro is moving in the opposite direction.
Gastronome @ August 9th, 2008 at 10:04 am

Big Brother you’re driving me nuts – this is as bad as Bijing. For the reader’s information the word in my prior post which was edited down to six stars was not foul language, it is the plural of a word that refers to stupid people, begins with I and ends with S and has a dot with another I in the middle. Dasvedanya Comrade.
Nancy Nichols @ August 9th, 2008 at 1:31 pm

knives and Beijing.

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