Do you think requiring that payday loan stores be located no closer than 1,500 feet from each other will improve MacArthur Boulevard and/or be good for the rest of Springfield?

No

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by Jennifer Spraggins

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Say that two people have two chocolate bars and a third person wants it. If you place one person farther away from the third person, the third person will simply go towards the person closer. If you move the other person, the same thing will happen. Even if you place the two people in two different areas at the same time, the third person is still going to want the chocolate bars. It won't matter which one the third person eats, because the person will have made an effort to get the chocolate bar. The same applies to placing distance between payday loan stores.

The problem isn't that the two are too close to each other, but it is a problem that people don't have access to other, more traditional methods of loaning. The problems that are in MacArthur Boulevard and the rest of Springfield is common where there are payday loans. People who don't have access to banks to provide loans are forced to go where they can get a loan. The fact is, people who are in the type of need for money like this will get it from the first store to say "yes". The only thing that may affect the results from the payday loan stores is the rates. If one offers a better rate, people are going to flood the area no matter where it is.

The real problem can't be solved in one day, and I'm not sure that the government is completely interested in truly solving the problem. Banks are (let's be blunt) stingy with who they loan to. Honest people who have good intentions for repaying the loan are blocked because of their credit, and as a result flood to payday loan stores who provide loan shark rates, but offer it to the general public. People incur more debt, and are wiped out of a check for the next month.

Many state governments are calling for a solution, but often in the wrong direction. Many states have attempted to regulate payday loaning to little avail. They try to control how often a person can get a loan, or how much he or she can get in a year. These attempts will not address the issue, and hence will not better a community until they confront the bad policies of banks towards loaning. Until the governments step in and tell the banks that they have to make provisions for people of lower class to get loans at around the same rates that are normally provided for other loans, we will continue to see problems in the loan process and hence the community. We should readjust our priorities if we want to improve our area.

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