New Haven Independent

Her name is Alyssa Lee. She works for the Brookings Institution.

In that capacity, she gives out “Urban Pathfinder” awards to seven cities that — as a city press release put it — “for their investments in communities and ability to successfully fuel economic development in an urban setting.”

In other words, put, say, a supermarket in a low-income neighborhood that didn’t have one.

A place like Shaw’s.

The city worked with groups like LISC (the Local Initiatives Support Corporation) and what would become the Greater Dwight Development Corporation to lure Shaw’s to a new shopping plaza off Whalley. And the store has stuck around. That makes a big difference for people who used to have to drive to the suburbs to shop.

Since then, a second, smaller supermarket has opened nearby, a C-Town on Dixwell Avenue.

“Urban makes sense,” Lee declared at a press conference at Shaw’s Monday afternoon. “Not only does urban make sense. Urban makes money.”

She gave a plaque to Mayor DeStefano, who made sure to recognize the neighborhood groups that played a crucial part in the Shaw’s project. Neighborhood activists Curlena MacDonald, Linda Townsend and Sheila Masterson were on hand, too. So was Shaw’s store manager Mike Sidelarz.