City Cracks Down on Black Neighborhood Businesses

For non-crimes like "single cigarette sales" — Rochester tries to address corner store problem. The city also plans to "limit their offering of tobacco, alcohol and lottery to one but not all."

Despite the city government working against them, "city records identify roughly 350 convenience store locations," or "10 stores for every square mile of land, a 15 percent increase since 2005." The article notes, "Historically, corner stores — like barber shops — were anchors of their neighborhoods, reflecting the tastes and ethnicity of residents."

While "single cigarette sales" might strike horror in the hearts of many Americans, as a student in Chile, I found that every city kiosk sold them. Not only did Chilean society not fall apart, the country's economy grew to such a point that she now ranks as a first-world nation.