<p>Re: the services in the community: the restaurant-and-store situation stinks so badly, and is so persistent across the last 30 years despite the size of the middle-class population and the inconvenience of driving to Roosevelt for a decent grocery store, that I have to wonder if the available work force may be part of the issue.</p>
<p>It’s amazing how national chains that rigidly control their service personnel everywhere else offer god-awful service in Hyde Park. Even chains that are known for their efficient, capable service – like Potbelly’s – are far worse in Hyde Park than in the Loop. I once had a cashier at the Hyde Park Walgreens who was so spectacularly inappropriate that I can’t even relate the story on a family message board. I have to wonder whether other businesses are discouraged from opening in the neighborhood by the difficulty in finding and keeping good staff.</p>
<p>“I see your point about making residents of the neighborhood feel unwelcome if we were to yank the Co-Op and put a Dean and Deluca there.”</p>
<p>The neighborhood’s big enough to support diverse services, like a Whole Foods AND a Dominick’s (especially when you consider that there are no supermarkets for several miles in any direction outside of Hyde Park). When I was growing up, there was the Co-Op and two locations of Mr. G’s, Campus Foods, and several convenience stores. The population has gone up since then.</p>