Unequal Protection

The News and Record reports this morning that the GPD has stepped up patrols at "shopping centers across the city" in order to make people feel safer during the Christmas shopping season. Here's the N&R's map showing the affected shopping centers:

I'm sure people who shop at those centers appreciate the effort. But there's something missing -- literally -- from the map. That story should read, "across the city (if you don't count anything east of Church St. as part of the city)."

Here are some facts about crimes and arrests over the past month in three of the shopping areas that will receive extra police protection.*

The quaint and charming State Street district, tucked at the edge of Irving Park, Greensboro's wealthiest neighborhood, reported one arrest and no other crime incidents.

Shoppers on State St. near Irving Park.

The spanking-new Jefferson Village area, which recently sprang up in the fast-growth New Garden Road area, reported five arrests and 16 crime incidents, the most serious of which were four shoplifting incidents, one burglary, one larceny, and one forged check.

Shoppers at Michael's at Jefferson Village.

The Lawndale Crossing area reported significantly more crime: nine arrests and 38 crime incidents, including seven incidents of shoplifting, four larcenies, two burglaries, one robbery, and one auto theft.

But Pyramids Village, located at the intersection of E. Cone Boulevard and I-29, which is receiving no increased police presence, reported 19 arrests and 48 crime incidents, including four burglaries, five larcenies, two incidents of fraud, one bank robbery, and one robbery of an individual.

Walmart shoppers at Pyramids Village.

In short, a higher-crime shopping center on the poorer side of Greensboro gets no increased patrols, while lower-crime retailers in wealthier neighborhoods receive the lion's share of scarce police resources.

This makes me mad as hell.

*I collected the information using the GPD's P2C website, setting the crime radius at .5 mi except for State St., which is small; the .5 mi radius would have included Golden Gate shopping center and distorted the data.

The End of Walmartia?

Today's Wall Street Journal has a long article (subscription required) sounding the death-knell of the Wal-Mart Era.

Today ... Wal-Mart's influence over the retail universe is slipping. In fact, the industry's titan is scrambling to keep up with swifter rivals that are redefining the business all around it. It can still disrupt prices, as it did last year by cutting some generic prescriptions to $4. But success is no longer guaranteed.

Rival retailers lured Americans away from Wal-Mart's low-price promise by offering greater convenience, more selection, higher quality, or better service. Amid the country's growing affluence, Wal-Mart has struggled to overhaul its down-market, politically incorrect image while other discounters pitched themselves as more upscale and more palatable alternatives. The Internet has changed shoppers' preferences and eroded the commanding influence Wal-Mart had over its suppliers.

As a result, American shoppers are increasingly looking for qualities that Wal-Mart has trouble providing.

I seem to be late to the party. I started shopping at Wal-Mart only last year, when it built a store at the abandoned Carolina Circle Mall property.

I suppose I should hate Wal-Mart, as even the Journal admits that it helped erode Main Street America, and it doesn't pay its employees very well (but neither does Target, I hear).

But I really like going to the Cone Boulevard Wal-Mart, for a lot of reasons. Price is one of them; we buy packaged staples and dairy there for the prices and buy meat, eggs, and produce from the Farmers' Market for the quality.

But price isn't the only thing. The Cone store is like a party, even if you're there at 11 p.m. on a Tuesday night. And the shoppers there make me feel a little better about my side of town, which is usually in the news only for crime, drugs, and prostitution. The people I see at Wal-Mart look like happy families -- for some reason, group shopping is the norm -- who are enjoying each other and buying stuff they need at low prices. It seems to make them feel good, and their presence shows me that even the "bad" side of town is mostly populated by nice, good people.

I think a lot of these people are inhabitants of John Edwards's "Other America," and this Wal-Mart is their town square. No other retailer or grocer was willing to build a store for them: not Target, not Costco, not Harris-Teeter, not even Food Lion.

So hate Wal-Mart if you like, but stop by the store on Cone sometime and ask the people who work and shop there if they'd like to see their Wal-Mart go away. I think I know what they'll tell you.