This is getting a little crazy. Responding to the South Los Angeles's new ordinance imposing a one-year moratorium on the construction of new fast food restaurants, William Saletan says, "We're not talking anymore about preaching diet and exercise, disclosing calorie counts, or restricting sodas in schools. We're talking about banning the sale of food to adults." No. No, we're not. South LA has an incredible density of fast food outlets already. The food they sell will not be banned. The franchises they've opened will not be nationalized. Rather, the city council is doing something incredibly ordinary: Deciding what sort of establishment it will allow to open within its jurisdiction. This is called zoning, and not to scare anyone, but it happens all the time. Try and open a new bar in DC sometime and see how far you get. Try to bring some live music to Mt. Pleasant street and tell me if you get approval from the proper authorities. City governments have long used the preferences of residents or the perceived needs of the community to discriminate when licensing businesses for construction. It happens all over the country, every day, with every type of establishment. Here's a city government using zoning to prevent the construction of 30-foot cross. And strip clubs. And bars. And social service centers. And fraternities. That doesn't necessarily mean the South LA ordinance a good idea. But it's weird to watch Saletan insist that "telling certain kinds of restaurants that they can't serve certain kinds of people is just plain wrong." That would indeed be wrong. If it were, you know, happening. The crucial insight here, however, is that's not happening.. I've concerns about the efficacy of this law, and I'm skeptical that it will actually result in public health benefits, but the idea that this is some sort of crazy new nanny state innovation just suggests that folks really aren't paying attention to how their local governments work.
