May 10, 2005 Delightful Delocator Is Starbucks bad for democracy? Three L.A. artists thinks it is. In response they created the Delocator, a searchable database of independent coffee houses input and maintained by its users. The way it works is super simple. You enter a zip code and you get two lists. One shows the independent coffee houses in the general area. The other shows the Starbucks outlets supposedly to be "delocated" from the same neighborhood. The search engine is a bit wonky and can turn up some pretty far-flung results. For example, entering 90004, the zip code for Larchmont, brings results in the same zip code, but also in Eagle Rock, San Gabriel and La Verne. It's not perfect, but when you need your caffeine fix, it will do. The project began as an installation piece at the San Francisco Art Institute created by Finishing School, a three-member L.A.-based art collective. Their message: that Starbucks threatens independent coffee houses, which are traditionally social spaces and centers of discourse, and so in turn threatens democratic principles. Today, Starbucks. Tomorrow, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, the world. Delocator can be found at http://www.delocator.net. Starbucks' policy on social responsibility can be found here.