The Dollar General Problem

    I'm from Lookout Mountain, Georgia, in a pretty, somewhat rural area. At the end of my family's street lies a plot of land which, for years, has sporadically been a site for different construction projects. In recent years, there started to be rumors that a new Dollar General was going to be built at the end of the street. My family and our neighbors were displeased at the thought, fearing a few of the different negative externalities which it might create such as being an eyesore and bringing increased traffic to the area.

There were talks among some neighbors who were more passionate about the issue than my family about writing a petition against it being built (and I don't remember whether they did or not), but, ultimately, a new Dollar General was constructed at the end of our road. It certainly has created some negative externalities. It looks better than many imagined, but the big yellow sign certainly doesn't improve the ambiance of the area. Apparently (I didn't realize until a google search a few minutes ago) there have also been negative externalities stemming from the supply trucks getting stuck on the road going up or down the mountain, as you can read in this article: https://www.chattanoogan.com/2022/7/13/452367/Lookout-Officials-Cite-5-Incidents-With.aspx.

    My family has noted that it has actually been a convenience to have the store at the end of the road. It's nice for my mom or dad to be able to drive two minutes to grab milk or eggs if we need it. I don't know what other neighbors would say, but, at least for my family, our marginal benefit from the new Dollar General has been greater than we would have expected in relation to our marginal cost. If the same can be said for the rest of those around us, the social marginal benefit has at least been closer to the equaling the social marginal cost than originally imagined. While there may be some dead weight loss still, there is certainly less created by the negative externalities than I, among others, might have thought there would be originally.