Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by difu_disciple 1776 days ago
When you see a dollar store, odds are that:

- it is newly built. Building a dollar store is a fairly cheap way to raise the value of undeveloped land so some land owners use them as an exit strategy for declining communities.

- likely in an odd location, compared to other stores. The developers asked an inexperienced city council to rezone non-commercial land to approve the new build.

Dollar stores wouldn't be as much of an issue if they leased existing commercial space but this rarely happens.

Sub-optimal land usage can lower the chances of a depressed community from ever rebounding.