Sunday addition of Indy Star brought about some reveleations that even stunned me. Not so much of its trueness but of its complete idiocy of accusations. According to Indy Star writer Erika Smith, Gas stations bring crime. The plot of the article is some neighbors in the area on the West side are not liking the growing number of gas stations popping up.

For the past five years, these businesses have been moving into this urban core neighborhood and others at an alarming rate: 10 stations within a two-mile radius along the high-traffic corridors of West Washington, West Michigan and West 10th streets

So what are the main reasons to not like gas stations now?

The problem isn’t so much with the gas that the stations sell, but with the crime they attract and the convenience stores that come with them. Full of cheap, unhealthy food and paraphernalia that people use for illegal drugs, the businesses are easy money makers in neighborhoods bereft of grocery stores and wracked by poverty.

She goes on to state as an example Rural/New York Street where there is a gas station. It had 900 calls over 10 years Smith states. I looked at that area for the month of May/June. Closest crime listed there through Spot Crime is three blocks east and IMPD labeled that as “Other”. Smith also goes on to state that those gas stations builders are following those pesky zoning laws:

The hangup is a mix of outdated zoning laws, neighborhoods that for years have been empty of vocal stakeholders, and the profitable business model of opening gas stations and convenience stores in poor urban areas.

Read the rest of the article if you want to see Academy award winning emotions for “Social Justice”. My job on this blog is to use Austrian thinking to rip apart crap published like this. Overall Smith’s biggest problem is the profit side of these gas stations. I can’t explain why she doesn’t like them, she just doesn’t. She will go to great lengths to demonize them to her audience. What Erika Smith doesn’t address from an economic standpoint is the amount of investment from investors or banks that go into building, remodeling or stocking a gas station. It takes great preparation of studying the area to see what needs are to be met. If it’s a poor area, countless economic writers have written about grocery stores leaving those areas because it’s 1) Too Risky & 2) Not profitable. What Erika Smith needs to do is kiss the feet of gas stations that open up in poor areas. Because without them, those in the X number of square block area wouldn’t have access to supplies the gas station has in stock.

I really don’t debate the “unhealthy food” scapegoat anymore. In this day and age, if you haven’t picked up the difference of bad or good food, then there isn’t much hope for you. Smith has stated in other articles throughout the years that some sort of organization through government needs to teach people on how to cook. She basically went full communist mode at that point.