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Image Source: Jennifer Brown / Jersey City
Columbia, S.C., Mayor Daniel Rickenmann entered office in 2022, confronting a significant challenge among his constituents. In a 2021 study, the Columbia Food Policy Committee uncovered more than 10 food deserts—defined as one mile away from a full-service grocery store—inside the capital city limits.
Since recruiting new grocery stores to town takes time, the mayor’s office decided to help bring groceries to underserved citizens. Under its Grocery Access Pilot (GAP) program, Columbia partners with Instacart to offer a subscription service for residents in food deserts, allowing them to have supermarkets deliver to their homes.
Recognizing and solving a fundamental problem like access to groceries is at the very heart of local government. Innovative solutions like GAP provide for those in need and instill confidence that local officials are working for their citizens.
Here, we explore how three city governments, including Columbia, have been able to improve their community members’ lives by providing basic yet meaningful amenities.
Image credit: Jennifer Brown / Jersey City
Mass transportation was a simmering problem before it boiled over in 2019 when drastic cuts made it nearly impossible for many citizens in Jersey City to commute via rail or bus.
While the transit system is still “deteriorating,” according to Jersey City Mayor Steven Michael Fulop, there is no longer a transportation desert.
Fulop introduced a partnership with Via, a public mobility app, in launching a microtransit system in 2020. Customers either use the app or call on a landline to order a ride from the fleet of more than 40 pink minivans serving Jersey City.
The rideshare service detects individuals taking a similar route, and the minivan adds passengers, helping keep costs to $2 per ride.
More than 2.5 million rides have been provided since 2020, reports the mayor. About four-fifths of the passengers are minorities and 60 percent of all rides serve low-income residents. Two-thirds say they don’t have a personal car. The service can be used for getting to work, getting groceries, or running other errands. The majority of riders have jobs that are unlikely to be available remotely, confirms Fulop, who is running for governor of New Jersey.
Finding a solution to the travel crisis was not a choice but a need, Fulop says. “Transit was deteriorating—it continues to deteriorate—we had to find another solution that works for Jersey City residents.”
“It’s been the most successful micro transit system in the country,” adds Fulop, who is hoping Jersey City is a model for cities with similar concerns to follow.
In the Land of 10,000 Lakes, providing access to all bodies of water is part of the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board’s mandate, says Michael Shroeder, the board’s assistant superintendent for planning.
The community has a natural affinity for nature. The Minneapolis Chain of Lakes Regional Park is the city’s second-most visited attraction, behind the Mall of America. Chain of Lakes is just one of an impressive network of parks and trails uniting the city.
“People are drawn to Minneapolis to live or to operate businesses in part because of our parks,” says Shroeder. “We have an amazing and robust park system, and I think people really recognize that.”
The work continues for the Parks Board, which is an independent agency not affiliated with the city government.
Another major milestone occurred last year with the opening of Graco Park along the Northeast Minneapolis riverfront. It includes Hall’s Island, a nature preserve that was restored in 2018, plus new trails and walkways, a river landing, public art, picnic tables, and gathering spaces surrounded by hundreds of new trees and native plants.
A $3 million grant from Graco, Inc., a local manufacturer, greatly sped the process of revitalizing the site, which was previously a former lumber yard. The park’s wooden structures are a nod to its history, Shroeder says.
While the basics of the original schematics guided the project, Shroeder credits community feedback for maintaining the concentration on preservation. Following that lead, the board built its first net-zero energy building on-site.
“We recognize that if we can eliminate the costs of energy in the operation of the building, we could direct those dollars to support programming, which is really more aligned with what we need to do at parks, as opposed to paying electricity bills,” says Shroeder.
Bringing Graco Park to life was a massive project. Shroeder points to one small segment for a larger meaning. The board was able to install 800 feet of new trailway that finally connected 40 miles of trails in the city. “That little piece was really important to us,” he says.
Image credit: Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board
The trial run for GAP involved convincing a skeptical public during the COVID pandemic. Many in the underserved neighborhoods eligible for the program were wary of others handling their groceries. But outreach at local medical clinics, Boys and Girls Clubs, and parks and recreation officials paid off.
Mindful of the affected citizens’ disadvantages, Columbia developed private partnerships to supply tablets to individuals without a device and to provide public Wi-Fi access along with tutorials for logging on.
At first, 110 households signed up for an Instacart+ plan, which typically costs $10 per account but was funded by money received from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, according to Payton Lang, policy and programs advisor to Mayor Rickenmann.
The number is now near capacity, with more than 200 individuals, but more citizens are benefiting because the premium subscription allows one other person to shop using the account.
GAP has been such a success that Columbia renewed the program for another year in 2025. “It basically runs itself now,” Lang says.
Lang predicts the program will continue for at least another year, but the administration is focused on attracting grocers to fill the food deserts.
