If you were to leave my house, make a right turn, and drive a half mile down Penn Avenue, you’d pass Bakery Square — a 150 million dollar redevelopment project that became open for business a year ago and houses (among other things) a 115,000 square foot Google office, Anthropologie, the Urban Active Fitness Club I now belong to, the Coffee Tree Roasters where I’m writing this entry, and the nearby Marriott that I’m stealing wi-fi from because the Coffee Tree connection gives you a two hour time limit.
If you drove 300 feet further and looked to your right, you’d see a Trader Joe’s and a shop that does repairs for custom bicycles that cost somewhere between “obscene” and “the approximate price of my life.” On the left hand side you’d pass a doomed shopping complex that houses a liquor store, the nastiest dollar store that’s ever existed, a Weave Mart, and a predictably hood supermarket my parents affectionately coined “BeBe’s Giant Eagle.”
Drive another 200 feet and you’ll run right into a spanking new Target. Behind this Target is a mix of $200,000 lofts and Section 8 housing. My barbershop is within a two block radius, as is Rent-N-Roll — a place where you can put 26′s on layaway (No, seriously. If you don’t believe me, go to their website) — Whole Foods, Rainbow, The Kelly-Strayhorn theater, and a homeless shelter/soup kitchen.
Also, if you were to look on a map, the name of this section of Pittsburgh would be “East Liberty.” But, if you happened to look at all of the recent signs and advertisements promoting this area, the name somehow morphs into “Eastside.”
This all makes me a living and breathing solider on the country’s most important battlefield — a high stakes war where instead of machine guns and Humvees, the enemy is armed with Sperry Top-Siders and $13 cupcakes. Yes, my friends, I’m a first-hand witness to the world’s most retched 14 letter word: Gentrification.
Now, this is where you’re probably expecting me to talk about how jarring is it to see a community I grew up in undergo such change. Included would probably be a passionate treatise about black people being displaced and black businesses getting priced out. I’d might even quote a passage from “The Bluest Eye” and cite something written by Sister T. But, since I’ve obviously taken advantage of the many perks the gentrification has brought with it, you’re probably expecting me to end this piece with a paragraph or two describing my ambivalence towards the entire situation and a bit of genuine reflection about the guilt I feel for not leading the “reverse the redevelopment” movement
This is (partially) true. I am aware that these things are going on, and I am definitely ambivalent. But, I’m actually ambivalent about my complete and utter lack of ambivalence.
Basically, I really don’t give a f*ck about any of the gentrification negatives I’m “supposed” to care about, and I’m (kind of) worried that I’m supposed to¹.
I know I should care that many people who look like me are being forced out of this community. In fact, I actually want to care more. I want to feel like sh*t whenever I choose to get my produce at Whole Foods instead of BeBe’s Giant Eagle. I want to want to protest whenever I leave my barbershop and have to sidestep the pale-thighed joggers hoarding the sidewalk. I want to want to run up and kick the motherf*cker who’s walking his dog at night in a neighborhood where you couldn’t even wear red t-shirts 15 years ago.
I wonder if something’s wrong with me. I’m convinced that I’m supposed to be concerned, that I’m supposed to feel a perpetual uneasiness about the change going on in the “Eastside”; this gotdamn gentrification. Sh*t, I even hoped that writing this would induce at least a little bit of worry.
It hasn’t. I still really don’t give a f*ck, and it’s likely that I won’t find a f*ck to give any time soon.
Actually, you know what? Nevermind that. I’m going to go for a nighttime jog around the neighborhood with my girlfriend in a couple minutes². Afterwards, we’ll probably walk to BRBG and get some adult milkshakes. We might stop at Bakery Square and watch a Jazz show on the way back. There’s a chance we might see some of our friends there, and we’ll probably have a pretty good time.
Anyway, maybe I’ll find a f*ck to give when I make it back home.
¹The whole “I don’t give a f*ck” premise contains some hyperbole. I do care. I just don’t care nearly as much as I think I’m supposed to.
²I’m lying. I don’t do jogging. I will walk briskly, though.
—The Champ
I think you just gave your stalker directions on how/where to find you, Champ.
HA!
haha I was thinking the same thing…
it’s not very hard to find me as is. just look for the big headed guy with a t-shirt that says “the champ” and it’ll probably be me
according to my stalking and knowledge of Pittsburgh, I think we live close to each other!…I can’t walk to Baker’s Square but I’m close.
no, yall live pretty far apart lol
thanks, Gem…e-dream killer
Uumm, I’m wit you Champ …. we all want a better
quality of Life … and I’m not going to apologize for it!
I agree!
I agree! Do people really want to live in the hood – I mean really?
I can see where and why people disagree with my premise. it’s not so much about living in the hood, it’s the fact that the neighborhood is being completely altered by outsiders
The only folks that seem to be winning in the Burgh are those who are winning on this front are the people over by the casino; they made sure that they had a seat at the table to make their concerns known. Although my brother-in law lost his apartment because his land lord saw dollars and jacked up his rent.
Man I can’t write this morning! Sorry yall.
The lead in should read:
The only folks in the ‘Burgh that seem to be winning on this front…..
“The only folks that seem to be winning in the Burgh are those who are winning on this front are the people over by the casino; they made sure that they had a seat at the table to make their concerns known.”
i think people who still live in east lib, garfield, and even larimer have begun to see positive changes as well
I agree with you 100%. Since graduating from college in May, I moved back in with my parents in the hood. Luckily, all my resources are outside of the neighborhood and I won’t have to worry about being shot trying to get my hair done or a cinnamon crunch bagel from Panera Bread.
cinnamon crunch bagel from Panera Bread
as hard as panera’s bagels get after 5pm, though, you might be able to use one as a bulletproof vest
True but I’ll tell you what…they make damn good bread pudding after the fact.
KMN
LMAO @ bulletproof vest!
How disappointing and shallow. To write a blog targeted towards black people, giving advice on relationships, and then admit to not even giving a f*ck when they’re being priced out of their homes. To ignore the centuries old discriminatory housing practices that have gone on, the red-lining that have marred the lives of millions of black people and simply point out that you can now jog late at night and sip coffee and steal wi-fi. Just wow. Perhaps a little less self-absorption would be best. Some of the people you care so very little about could very well be readers of your blog or at least know people who are facing the very start reality that they may no longer have a place to call home. Yes, you should give a f*ck.
#YouMad
He or she is mad. One of the black people that are mad about gentrification but YET won’t fix their own neighborhoods. I remember when Sista Soulja came to my college and told us “If we don’t take care of our problems, somebody else would”
Do you know him/her? It is ridiculous to me that you would assume this person is not doing anything to fix their neighborhood. And what are you currently doing with that advice that Sista Soulja gave to you?
Womp womp…
Why should he apologize for wanting to live in a safe, secure neighborhood? I have to say I’m all in for gentrification when the results do in fact make a better place to live.
sigh….
we are not talking about any predominantly black neighborhood
nor are we laughing at the misfortune of others
we are talking about areas that have had high crime and drug rates
areas that are a sore on the community
REGARDLESS if the area is predominantly white, black, asian, etc. ANY area that is unsafe and does not contribute to the production of the city it resides in needs to be dealt with
If we as black people BELIEVE in these communities than we need to OWN in these communities…Nobody can force you of your own home without paying a price
Lets be honest…the people who gentrify take a HUGE risk moving into the area and trying to make it work…I mean WE not gonna do it…nobody is forcing us to NOT move back..we don’t want to deal with it…
The downfall of the black communities happened looonngg before a Starbucks opened up…
it started when we allowed chains to come in and bankrupt the mom and pops…
it started when we allowed the homes our grandparents/parents took pride in, fall into disrepair
it started when we became more educated and instead of mving back we moved away
we have essentially *forced* our own self out
what i am trying to say is that MANY factors..long before white people took an interest..have caused the downfall of the black community…
and as much as we love our people and our neighborhoods we can’t stand to see it in the condition that it once was…
as i’ve said before no one gentrifies an area that is decent…
you should be outraged that your people live in conditions that are downright deplorable…
you should be outraged that whole generations have lived in the same housing project without getting results…
you should be outraged that your people can’t even walk the streets at night and must put bars on their windows…
you wanna be mad..start at that THEN work your way down
but don’t be mad at the cupcake spot..or the whole foods…or the asian fusion spot for moving into a neighborhood…
nor be mad at the people who enjoy them..
Preach!
+151
it started when we allowed the homes our grandparents/parents took pride in, fall into disrepair
you should be outraged that your people live in conditions that are downright deplorable…
you should be outraged that whole generations have lived in the same housing project without getting results…
*round of applause*
Who wants to live in/move back to an area where 30% of the houses on your street are boarded up? Windows busted, aluminum siding gone and copper piping stolen from the basement… Graffiti everywhere, broken bottles in the street.
They’ve been trying to gentrify the Eastside of Cleveland for years now, but you can’t build a 1/2 mil dollar house in the hood and it just magically turn into the suburbs. I really don’t know if Cleveland can ever be what it once was, because in my eyes it’s Detroit, Jr…
And lest we forget – there’s all kinds of gentrification. Chinatown is now mostly Vietnamese, Little Manila is becoming more Hispanic, and the Jewish neighborhood turned Black neighborhood is becoming white
right…its like the circle life…every neighborhood has its own life cycle…
i’ve seen whole suburbs turn into a section 8 housing in as little as 5 years
…but the *reason* that’s happening is because the people who live in those suburbs now want to live in the city… so they move, and they displace the people who currently live there by moving *those* people (and the section8 program) out to the suburbs instead…
but the *reason* that’s happening is because the people who live in those suburbs now want to live in the city… so they move, and they displace the people who currently live there by moving *those* people (and the section8 program) out to the suburbs instead…
this is happening in the Burgh as well
And what’s sad is, the public transit doesn’t move along with it… so now (at least where I’m from) you have a bunch of people “way out there” with no money and no what to get around…
Oh wait, maybe that’s the goal… if you they can’t back down to the city… where everything is… you won’t even have to see them and they’re retched poverty.
I agree about the public transit not moving along. I hear folks complaining all the time about having to take 2 or 3 buses just to get to town. Previously, they only had to take one bus that ran frequently.
http://www.truth.com We’re firmly convinced that the lady who owns the condo next to me in my building is a slumlord. We’re currently on Section 8 resident number 3 and she and her daughter have literally turned our building into the hood overnight:
-smoking in a “smoke-free building
-slamming doors at all hours of the night
-arguing/fighting/throwing things loud enough to hear through the walls
-leaving trash in our stairwells
We’ve complained ad nauseam but management can only issue warnings. If I wanted this sh*t I’d have just kept my rat/roach infested apartment in Baltimore.
/rant
Champ, the plight of the Talented Tenth is why we all, yourself included DO care. The tricky part is I think you’re really saying you support redevelopment. Which is fine. I do too.
The singular defining point that distinguishes redevelopment from gentrification is that the latter specifically displaces poorer people. Who of course, are typically black or latino. It’s important to recognize that difference and take our educated thinking a step farther to identify the real problems:
What’s the impact on that population after displacement?
What are the systemic problems that maintain that population at the bottom of the income pool? For good measure, how does that affects us in the middle and upper classes? I bet we could cure poverty if some economist could simply prove it’s more profitable to eradicate it.
VSB rather awesomely has a broad mix of people from all over the US and beyond. I love seeing you bring this up as opposed to nip-slips because it opens dialogue on something much more important.
Still, it’s critical that we don’t let ourselves get lazy, brainwashed by the shiny new everything that is America: That is failing miserably. Not only black folks, everyone.
“I bet we could cure poverty if some economist could simply prove it’s more profitable to eradicate it.”
I don’t know that it is more profitable to eradicate it. Most poor people are willing to pay almost twice as much for goods and services, than middle class or rich folk. Don’t believe me, check out check cashing fees, payday loans, rent-n-roll. There is big business is selling cheap things to poor folks for big money.
Thanks for this post, although it was a bit unsettling at least you used humor =) and kept me reading.
.
i must say sistah watkins, your reply was THE most refreshing one on this site. to the author of this blog: i would like to hope that there is a lot of sarcasm in your writing and although you do not let these ‘issues’ attached with gentrification keep you up at night, you do care a bit to worry about folks who are displaced because it may not be you nor me but it may be our moms, aunties, childhood friends, BARBERS
i am a young professional and am ALL about progress and making our communities better. i am the first one to pay for an overpriced cupcake and a starbucks coffee BUT i honestly and sincerely do care about the plight of poor black and latinos in this country.
gentrification (or any other ‘non threatening’ word you’d like to use) can be great IF it didn’t come with vast displacement. ok, in some parts of this country empty lots and dilapidated buildings needed to be filled up and replaced, i get that. but in cities like new york, there are rich vibrant communities that are being torn down for the sake of gentrification. for the sake of ‘improving’ the area just because it doesn’t look a certain way, it doesn’t have certain shops around.
please, as sistah watkins said: let’s NOT get lazy and brainwashed by shiny new thangs. they will numb us and lead us to THINK we do not care, when in the depths of our hearts we do.
now i don’t want to live in the hood, no thank you. i worked my a#$ off to leave it and move on up the economic ladder of success BUT i don’t think that living in a nice area should come at the expense of tearing down families, communities, etc.
this country is rich and has really smart a#% people. i KNOW they can find a way to come up with policies that ‘clean up’ certain areas while keeping the original residents in place (if they so choose to remain after the changes).
but it’s part of conspiracy theory (if you ask me) just like the Urban Renewal policies (back in the mid 1900′s, coined NEGRO REMOVAL by James Baldwin because that is exactly what the policies that were supposed to be cleaning up and reviving urban areas: removing negros).
it’s not so ‘black and white’ (and there is pun intended lol), it’s really not that simply.
care while you sip your latte and steal wifi. it’s free
Oh God… East Cleveland is a wreck. My entire family is from Cleveland, me and my siblings are the only ones born outside of the state. I remember when I was little and would visit every summer and the neighborhood was still somewhat thriving. It was safe to play outside, there weren’t addicts and shady folk walking around ALL day and ALL night. My grandmother has been in her house for 40 years, I want her to move away SOOO badly. Every other house in the neighborhood, AND I MEAN EVERY OTHER HOUSE, is boarded up. And the ones that aren’t boarded up are falling apart. It’s so sad… To gentrify East Cleveland would be to completely gut it out and start over.
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let the church say amen!
amen *waves hand*
Amen Amen!
Well said, sir. Excellent point.
CHURCH!
I almost got up outta my seat and started shoutin’! Very well said!
your tirade seems a bit self-righteous, but i can feel where you’re coming from. but how exactly did we “allow” locally owned businesses (“mom & pop stores”) to be overtaken by chain stores from outside the community? chain stores have way more resources.
you say “what i am trying to say is that MANY factors..long before white people took an interest..have caused the downfall of the black community…”
i respectfully disagree. “the downfall of the black community” (in the u.s.a.) is that our very existence was illegal since the beginning of our en masse presence in the americas. black slaves & free people were subject to the whim of inconsistent legislation and treated more or less like criminals. and now, the rules that have to be followed by the incarcerated & formerly incarcerate are very similar to what was found during slavery…no “R” for runaway, just a credit report labeling you as a felon, and and being barred from lots of career fields.
i understand that we have to move forward from that, but i also think one of the things “holding back our people” is low black self-esteem…which is often the result of victim-blaming, which i felt like you did in your comments above.
when gentrification happens, it’s not like tom & becky move in, & then get josh & sarah to move in too, & then add to the tax base, improve the public school system, & then kiki & jayshawn get the benefit of going to a better school. that sh*t never happens. they send their kids to private school if they have any, or a really good magnet school. they drive up property values, & yeah they might start some really cool urban garden, but most likely the little brown kids will be displaced, and either go to another sh*tty area, or go to a better, suburban school, where they’ll be well below the academic level of their classmates. perhaps they’ll get more attention, maybe held back, maybe socially promoted.
people have the right to move wherever they want. i’m riding a gentrification wave myself. but it has nothing to do with improving neighborhoods. it’s claiming more attractive land. more space for the price. closer to the city, or closer to work. homes with more “character”–these are the things that motivate gentrification. & if people get displaced, so what? it has nothing to do with improving neighborhoods, it’s completely selfish.
i agree, we should be outraged about the deplorable conditions that many of “us” have to deal with. but this does not appear to be the way to counteract them.
“when gentrification happens, it’s not like tom & becky move in, & then get josh & sarah to move in too, & then add to the tax base, improve the public school system, & then kiki & jayshawn get the benefit of going to a better school. that sh*t never happens. they send their kids to private school if they have any, or a really good magnet school. they drive up property values, & yeah they might start some really cool urban garden, but most likely the little brown kids will be displaced, and either go to another sh*tty area, or go to a better, suburban school, where they’ll be well below the academic level of their classmates. perhaps they’ll get more attention, maybe held back, maybe socially promoted.”
this is my only problem with gentrification. the displaced kids suffer. they’re not going to be able to move to a better area, so their living conditions will go from bad to worse, they’ll get even less education, and they’ll have even less of a chance to make it. it’s easy for people like us not to care, because it’s not affecting us negatively. but i bet little tyrone and tamika care a hell of a lot.
@Around the way girl: Yes. That (displacement) is THE problem of gentrification. Gentrification is not about improvement, it’s about displacement. Redevelopment is about improvement.
Yes, exactly. Thank you for providing the redevelopment term.
My very first response to this post was via twitter:
“Gentrification is not about improving communities, it’s about displacing communities. You didn’t help the hood, you moved the hood. #simple”
Ah, redevelopment. I think we’ve gotten somewhere. Not a fan of displacement.
Well you just said it all! Round of applause!
*slaps theeclectic*
No one is allowed to speak THAT much right!
And not for nothing, but if housing prices are raising and you own grandma’s home, you’re getting wealthier.
+ me!
Standing O!
* exactly ! *
One of the most common things folks do when talking about gentrification is colorize it. Gentrification knows no color. I live in a neighborhood in bedstuy brooklyn that is essentially on the cusp of gentrification. Because my wife and I were willing to pay more for our building than everyone else around us – causing the property values to increase – we are, by definition – gentrifying our neighborhood.
Just wanted to throw that out there for the record.
IMO it’s very difficult to talk about gentrification (class) without talking about race because classes are disproportionately affected by race.
Right. It seems that some people are primarily upset that white folks are moving in. I wonder if we’d even be having this discussion if most gentrifiers were black. This is really a class issue and the perceived conflict of values between classes both black and other.
We’d still have the argument.
It’s an old argument, and black people had it among themselves long ago: Booker T vs WEB.
“One of the most common things folks do when talking about gentrification is colorize it. Gentrification knows no color.” Monday’s syllogism: Gentrification is about displacing the poor… People of color are mostly poor… Gentrification is about people of color.
I too am part of gentrifying BedStuy. But I just want to live closer to the city that I work in.
Though my landlord is comfy with it because we have a similar background.
I always wanted to live in a brownstone because of the space you get in the apt and the fixtures/large windows.
“Yes, you should give a f*ck.”
I don’t deny this. But, being able to be (relatively) safe in a community where I’ve had friends raped and murdered and my house shot into when I was 12 (I lived in a row house and they mistook it for a drug dealer’s house that was a couple houses down) far supersedes any socioeconomic guilt about the change now.
Of course I’d love it if we were able to turn the community around ourselves. But, we didn’t, and I don’t shed any tears when thinking about the crime infested high-rises that were demolished to make room for the Target. Why? Well, since those high-rises are gone, I don’t have to worry as much about my girlfriend getting caught by a stray when she’s shopping for paper towels.
Sadly enough, I have to say I’m with you on this one. As a native Chicagoan westsider, I’ve watched gentrification actually help communities such as Lawndale and whatever you call that neighborhood by the United Center. I see attempts being made at trying to help Austin as well, but it’s had mixed results. The crabs in a barrel mentality is strong, and I’ve found myself muttering “This is why we can’t have nice things” on more than one occasion. I’m a parent now, and that alone was the basis of my choosing to live in a suburb less than a mile away from my old stomping grounds. Safe places to play, better schools, vibrant community – that’s the kind of environment I want my daughter raised in.
“I’m a parent now, and that alone was the basis of my choosing to live in a suburb less than a mile away from my old stomping grounds. Safe places to play, better schools, vibrant community – that’s the kind of environment I want my daughter raised in”
i think people’s views about this sort of thing start to change once they have people whose safety they’re responsible for (ie: children, girlfriends/wives, parents, etc).Maybe I’d be a bit more of a revolutionary if I weren’t from this area and I didn’t really have people near by that I cared about
+infinity
“The crabs in a barrel mentality is strong, and I’ve found myself muttering “This is why we can’t have nice things” on more than one occasion.”
I blogged about that exact topic this morning. It’s sad how we went from banding together to get out of slavery and building our own communities to tearing them down and forgetting the value of using the village to raise our children.
I laughed loudly when you wrote about the person walking their dog at night. My neighborhood here in Atlanta is going through the same thing, 200,000 condos are going up down the street across from what used to be one of the most notorious “Traps” in the city and like you, while I’m supposed to be concerned, I think I like the condos better than the 37 dudes that were on the corner in white tees 3 years ago.
“I think I like the condos better than the 37 dudes that were on the corner in white tees 3 years ago.”
yea. I much as the assholes in the Priuses annoy me, I’ll take them over the Beanie Sigel doppelgangers any day
…but the point is, those brothas are still around- they just aren’t on *your* block anymore… you mighta moved ‘em, but you aint help ‘em. (I’m just sayin)
But I don’t think you have to take up this cause, honestly… I think we have a responsibility to be passionate about *something* worthwhile for our communities, but no one person can give eightyleven hours to *everything*… I think it’s equally important to know what causes you choose not to take up as it is to choose a few _to_ take up.
I might not be the most passionate about immigration, but I will give my check for girl to get some birth control in her life.
“…but the point is, those brothas are still around- they just aren’t on *your* block anymore… you mighta moved ‘em, but you aint help ‘em. (I’m just sayin)”
Ah, see, this is true now. I think we forget that just because the unsavory folk aren’t around anymore that they somehow disappeared. Naw, they just went somewhere else, bothering different folks. And this isn’t likely to change until we change the mentality that the thug life is the good life. “Read a book, read a book, read a mother-effing book” and all that.
On the flip side, am I the only one who finds it hilariously ironic that this must be, in a twisted sort of way, exactly how white folks felt when all the minorities started moving into their areas? “Ugh, honey, there go them whities again, try’na betterfy our neighborhood with their “Tar-jays” and Starbuckses and fitness centers…”
on the flip side, i haven’t really seen black people trip about white ppl moving in like that… i’m from gentrification ground zero…we watched the white people move in with curiosity, then amusement, then uncertainty…the “perks” they brought along with them were seen as a good thing, including starbucks… & bookstores…we were happy to have them back in the city proper. unless they do something blatantly disrespectful, most people are just happy to have a neighbor that’s cool & not causing any drama, as long as they aren’t the cops.
“…but the point is, those brothas are still around- they just aren’t on *your* block anymore… you mighta moved ‘em, but you aint help ‘em. (I’m just sayin)”
i agree. they’re still there. but again, my immediate concern for the safety and quality of life of the people i care about supersedes my will to help the beanie sigels
which makes sense…
unless the people you care about… your people… *are* also the beanie sigels…
the people I care about who are the beanie seagals have heard from me, their mama, their aunts, play cousins: “we wish you made better choices for yourself, your family and community” and “we are praying for you” and “I am here when you’re ready to let that mess go”
Accountability is realizing you alone chose to bring pain to your mother’s eyes and someone else’s mother’s eyes and choosing different when you are ready to do so and receive the help and love from family. And I agree with the Champ.
This right here.
Basically, I don’t give an eff about these three reports that must be uploaded by 8am central time, or my raggedy work computer that keeps freezing.
Oh wait, we’re talking ’bout you? Sorry.
Gentrification sucks, until it doesn’t.
“Gentrification sucks, until it doesn’t.”
expound and sh*t
The systemic forces that help kneegrows (or any other disenfranchised group) reach the lowest common denominator push existing residents out of their neighbors after they have been routinely denied basic levels of service by a power structure that would rather they disappear to the dark side of the moon. Developers either seek out (or are wooed) to poorer neighborhoods and use the local governments to hijack land at sweet prices with a bunch of tax breaks. These developers woo monied residents into the area with newly constructed/renovated housing and middle-class shopping, sidewalks and parks get built (cuz people who “deserve” them now live there), the police do less stop and frisk and more protect and serve, and street lights and potholes get fixed. Not to mention the zoning commission magically decides it’s allergic to liquor stores, check cashing places, and tons of fast food (unless of course it’s Panera or Chipotle). The neighborhood is overall more livable, but at the expense of pushing poor people out of neighborhoods with services that they can use. Most of the gentrified neighborhoods have easy access to public transportation, are more walkable, etc – and yet the gentrified residents usually can afford cars and use them frequently. Poorer people rely on these services, and they often aren’t valued as consumers of these services.
But, in the end, who doesn’t want a nice coffe shop, a couple of nice eateries, a selection of entertainment spots, etc.? Who doesn’t want well-maintained properties and safe neighborhoods? So, yeah, it sucks for the people who are guilty of the crime of being poor, and who are just going to be pushed into another poor pocket of the city without ever having meaningful access to this investment, but it does make life more convenient for those who can afford to live in those neighborhoods.
Now here’s something to ponder, something that actually flies in the face of my own pro-gentrification stance. A lot of people cannot afford to hold down the fort when the gentrification wave sweeps through. Cold hard reality is that we cannot expect everybody to be rich or even middle class. That is unrealistic.There are only so many paying jobs. Some jobs that America needs to be done do not pay well enough to protect good citizens from gentrification. Can neighborhoods be revitalized in such a way as to not punish people who work jobs that we actually need them to fill, that happen to be low paying?
Haha I remember Bebe’s Giant Eagle. One thing that always tickled me about the ‘Burgh was that there was only one chain of grocery stores and each store was incredibly different. Bebe’s GE was pretty hoodrat, but right down the street was the World Market GE where a violinist once followed me around serenading me in the produce section.
As for gentrification…. I’m with you Champ. Give me Trader Joe’s and being able to walk out of my apt safely at night. Sigh, what I’d give now to not hear the wh0res screaming at each other outside of my window at 2 am. -_-
I miss Squirrel Hill.
“Bebe’s GE was pretty hoodrat, but right down the street was the World Market GE where a violinist once followed me around serenading me in the produce section.”
yeah, this is weird as hell. they’re separated by (maybe) a mile, but they couldn’t be further apart
As much as I want to protest the all encompassing ‘monster’ that is gentrification… I can’t. I WANT a better quality of life, I WANT a Starbucks on my corner, I WANT a Whole Foods within walking distance… And the over abundance of caucasoids that have infiltrated my area gives me all of those things. I fear I’m more angry (and saddened) by brown people that think back with fondness to the ‘good old days’, when you wouldn’t DARE walk the streets if you were white.
It also needs to be said that many young and brown professionals who protest about the ills of gentrification, are indeed gentrifiers themselves… ::sigh::
Giving a fluk is tiring.
I think people tend to forget that in the midst of that ratchetness, there was a community. I don’t think the issue is the nice stuff per se, as much as the arrival of said stuff means never seeing a good chunk of your peoples ever again. Also, when you’re struggling, any thing that can be considered “yours” is worth its weight in gold. I’m not against gentrification, but pretending what was here before was somehow worthless to anyone is foolish. Hoodrats are people too.
“I don’t think the issue is the nice stuff per se, as much as the arrival of said stuff means never seeing a good chunk of your peoples ever again.”
thing is, in many (if not most) of the neighborhoods going through this, you still see a sizable chunk of us around. you just start to see more of “them.” I don’t think the community has or will be destroyed as much as it’s just being altered a bit
I see your point, but poorer communities rely on those social contacts to get by. So even though most of the bunch might be around, a non-trivial portion is gone forever, and that makes a huge difference. I know that in gentrification throughout the US, academics and social service agencies notice the breakup of social networks and the attendant increased demand for social services.
I’m not against gentrification. I just want to point out that there are costs to everything.
Great points. While gentrification might get rid of the ratchets, it is also messing with good, innocent people who just have the misfortune of having a low socioeconomic status. And because they’re uneducated, they’re not going to be able to pull themselves out of the situation…they haven’t the slightest idea what to do, or that they even CAN do anything. They need help, and they need us to care.
I dabbled in community organizing for a little while, and if more people participated in stuff like that, our less fortunate brothers and sisters might have a chance. I understand why people don’t, though, because you have to start small, you’re fighting bigger and more powerful opponents, and change comes very slowly. It’s more than most people, myself included, have the long-suffering for. There does come a point when you realize that, unless you’re gonna dedicate your life to fighting the power, you need to worry about your own well-being, and the well-being of your loved ones. So I guess it’s natural to just give up, make our money, hit up the Starbucks, and thank God we were born into circumstances that allowed us to succeed.
MY first introduction to gentrification was from furious styles ala boyz n the hood…. They coulda used a whole foods. Ricky’d b alive today….
He never should have stopped for that milk…
It was a lottery ticket Stephanie, and Ricky decides to scratch off the numbers after running from cats who just tried to kill him and Tre.
I mean who does THAT?!?!?!
WHY RICKY WHYYYY!!!
It was symbolic. After experiencing something so harrowing, all he wanted to do was escape the hood as fast as he could.
Great analysis, right there!
But that scratch off could’ve waited until he got home!
Ahhhhhhh yes. Sorry about that. Wasn’t he drinking milk at some point in that scene? Like he stopped at the convenience store to get milk and a lottery ticket. Or am I confusing this with another one of the hood flicks?
What I did find interesting from that movie is how “nice” the hood looked in California as compared to the high rises of Chicago or the NE cities. The rougher parts of town where I live (Phoenix) look similar to LA as well. I suppose this is probably because those areas were middle-class prior to white flight and weren’t designed to be substandard housing like the project high rises.
I think he may have been drinking milk at his house but there was no milkman in that alley!
WHY RICKY WHY!!!
The only thing worse was Doughboy bringing Ricky BACK TO THE HOUSE LIKE THAT…
You two are CRACKING ME UP!!!!!! LOLOLOL
@ Cali: you know that scene in Boyz In The Hood is in the Top 10 of Black Cinema!
(slow motion Tre voice) RIIIIIICKYYYYY!!!
If anybody apologizes for a hood upgrade they crazy. I’d prefer to see my black people own these upgrades but either way we all should benefit.
Btw….as of 12am CST it’ll be my B-day. Could I get some B-day
sexlove?Happy birthday.
thanx!
HAPPY BIRFDAY!!*
*There’s your love. Someone else will be here with the sex shortly.
Sounds like a pizza…30mins or less.
Happiest of Burf Days!!! Sorry, no chex allowed, it ain’t Christmas.
Damn…Christmas??? lol
Sorry, I meant Kwanzaa.
*Happy Birthday!
*Kwanzaa? Gettin’ in for 7 days?
Yep…the gift that keeps on giving. haha
(lights the first candle to set the mood)
dead
How fitting. The principle for the first night is “Unity”.
7days straight?? Feel free to send me plenty of ginseng, viagra, and 5hr energy as b-day gifts.
Happy B-Day Tx!
Thanx T-lee!
Happy Birthday!
Happy Biiiiiiiirthday, Dear Tex =)
*waits to sign Yoles e-card*
thanx Miss Cam!
Happy Birthday!!
Much luv sunshyne!
Happy birthday!!
Thanx Lady Tx!
may your birthday be a very feminine birthday
Thanx…i think. lol
Happy Bornday
Thanx Chocolit!
Happy Birthday!
Thanx WIP! Nice avi….
Happy B-day Tex!!! I wish you 25lbs of weight loss so you can change your name to Tx11inch. #OprahTaughtMe
lol. If I lost 25lbs, it would be a very crackish b-day!
Happy Birthday Tx10inch!!!!!
Preciate it LoveJones!
Happy Birthday!!
Thanx Suga!
Happy Birthday! I hope you enjoy your day and year and all the blessings and surprises it may bring.
Thanks Much Phidelity!!
Happy Earthstrong!
Thanks!
Happy Birthday ! Do the night right !
Will do!
Congratulations on your liberation from the womb. May you be able to shamelessly plug the most selfish of holidays again next year.
I did it. Yes, I am the reason why you are ambivalence-deficient. Mission accomplished.
It follows that the perks of a bourgeois lifestyle can numb one to the trials of the have-nots. If you fail to believe me, please read this article: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/10-7
No need for you folks to “Watch the Throne” any longer: I am sitting quite comfortably on it.
Thank you. I fear I’m going to be exhausted before I even reach the bottom of the comments.
” No need for you folks to “Watch the Throne” any longer: I am sitting quite comfortably on it.”
lol, that Boron character always gives me quite the chuckle
its been happening in dc for years. i’m not too opposed to it. i’ve been living in harlem for a week now and i see the effects of gentrification by the building i live in compared to the buildings across the streets. *shrug* it is what it is.
I lived in Harlem in 2010 & I see what you see @MadSciencetist
I currently live in Harlem on a gentrified street that is as racially mixed as Manhattan itself. Many areas of Harlem are being gentrified, but that doesn’t mean that we as a people can not be the benefactors of the process and establish ourselves in these gentrified areas to help others going forward.
Cosign 100%…
Y’know, the funny thing about Harlem (and essentially every urban minority neighborhood) is that gentrification had to occur in order for it to become predominantly black in the first place. Didn’t the Dutch occupy Harlem up until the early 1900′s??? Blacks gentrified Harlem during the early 20th century. If we’re being honest, the current phase of gentrification is likely just the natural evolution of the neighborhood.
It was the Jews actually, but you’re right.
Good point.
Can we acknowledge that you have to already be in a certain position… a wealthy one… to establish yourself in the newly gentrified community? And even when they add so-called mixed income housing… how many people who currently lived there are ready to buy, and can afford, the couple hundred thousand “lower income” properties they throw in there?
@Chunk, I just agree with darn-near everythang you’ve posted here. (Disclaimer, I might have missed one or two.)
Thanks, and ditto!
“but that doesn’t mean that we as a people can not be the benefactors of the process and establish ourselves in these gentrified areas to help others going forward.”
That was my thought. Why can’t a brown person buy a little Subway franchise and start a family business when the new office building or lofts get built? Not to mention that concessions made for minority businesses, at least in my area.
“Why can’t a brown person buy a little Subway franchise and start a family business when the new office building or lofts get built? Not to mention that concessions made for minority businesses, at least in my area.” That isn’t gentrification. It’s redevelopment. Which is awesome.
” Many areas of Harlem are being gentrified, but that doesn’t mean that we as a people can not be the benefactors of the process and establish ourselves in these gentrified areas to help others going forward.”
Ok, here’s where I’m gonna chime in. I agree. I just think our focus (the negro blogoshpere community or whatever we’re calling ourselves these days) needs to be on schooling or recommending books, seminars, classes etc; young blacks how to get in on this. Where do we begin as far as learning how to plan, finance, and execute when it comes to getting in on this gentrification action? That’s what I’d like to know. I mean, I have somewhat of an idea, but more importantly I have an interest in catching the wave in the next 5-10 years when I get my funds right. We’d do better to be teaching each other how to scheme on getting in on said action as opposed to arguing about whether or not we should be ambivalent. Imo
I saw some of this going on in my hometown of Dayton a few years ago. I think its a good thing. It works okay if there are jobs associated with it. One of the areas it was tried in did not work at all. Went back there this year . The businesses/resturants left and are boarded up just like most of the old ‘hood’ businesses. Too much crime in that area to keep anything open. Some places are just gonna die I guess.
“It works okay if there are jobs associated with it.”
this is key. And, I’ll admit, part of my non-anger with this subject is probably due to the fact that all of the new developments, the Target, the Trader Joes, etc have predominately black people (young, old, and inbetween) working there
Just in hearing everyone’s response and this reply in particular, it reveals to me that gentrification has evolved into a class issue just as much if not more than a racial issue. If you take the example of white flight in previous decades, that phenomenon was completely racial, however in this instance, as your post reveals, you can enjoy the benefits of gentrification without being the race of the predominant gentrifier(not sure if this is a word). So Anyone who can afford to live in these “renewed” neighborhoods can live there, with that being said, you can’t ignore the hundreds of years of history that will tell you who those people who can afford it will most likely be. So Until we as black folk are doing as well or better than white folk on the aggregate here in America (don’t hold ya breath), we do need to give a f$%k about gentrification. So with all of that being said fam, your post is either shamelessly ignorant or ahead of its time, maybe both.
@Chase “So Until we as black folk are doing as well or better than white folk on the aggregate here in America (don’t hold ya breath), we do need to give a f$%k about gentrification. So with all of that being said fam, your post is either shamelessly ignorant or ahead of its time, maybe both.” <This right HERE? This — right HERE? Yes, yes, yes. I don't believe Champ is shamelessly ignorant. But this post is not talking about being ambivalent about gentrification. It's talking about being ambivalent about redevelopment.
@Tina. Really, I could have sworn the title said something about loving gentrification, I could be wrong though, maybe I can’t read. Also gentrification and re-development go hand in hand, re-development almost always means gentrification. Re-development is a key cornerstone to gentrification. Also, I think champ has been pimped, as many middle class black folks have been pimped. Tasting the fruit of gentrification in the short term i.e. being able to walk to Target at 9:30 p.m. to buy eggos, does not mean that it’s beneficial to black americans as a whole in the long run. So we get pimped, get a little taste, and then think it’s all gravy, but under that gravy is a sh%t sandwich….I stick to my original reply, these conflicts reveal how much of a class issue gentrification has become.
@Chase, I’m agreeing with you: You’re right, the post does claim to be about loving gentrification. While you’re also right redevelopment often leads to gentrification there are exceptions. Gentrification by definition is about displacement. So I’m trying to point today’s post reads (to me) like Champ’s saying poor black (and other) folks haven’t been displaced.
@Tina, I don’t remember him saying that. But even if that is the case thus far in his particular example. It still doesn’t warrant the dismissal of gentrification as a problem, and that is what this post is about, and I know I can read. lol.
@Chase, I’m glad for folks like you who learnt their letters.
Your comment sums up my thinking on it entirely: “Until we as black folk are doing as well or better than white folk on the aggregate here in America (don’t hold ya breath), we do need to give a f$%k about gentrification.”
I grew up in Cabrini Green on the Northside of Chicago.
As a child of the 90s, I witnessed gang violence and other ghetto bullsht everyday. Running home from school and hiding in hallways for fear of getting hit by a stray bullet. Police brutality when we weren’t being ignored altogether.
As an adult of the new millennium, I was glad to see those hellholes torn down and some of the worst get shipped off somewhere else. I liked not always waking up to police sirens and/or gunfire. I briefly thought of other neighborhoods being overrun with our hoodrats and hoodnigg@s. I also felt some kind of way about seeing 2520s jogging without fear through an area that they used to only brave for a rock. But I got over it.
I’m now living in another gentrified area, the Near West Side, a nice mixed income community and I love it though the ignants are trying to take over again. What’s wrong with wanting to feel safe in and outside of the place you call home? Not a damn thing.
Think what you will; cause I think I give even less of a fck than Champ. I’ll sleep peacefully tonight either way.
I grew up in Cabrini Green on the Northside of Chicago
Wow. Much respect. I just watched a doc on Cabrini Green the other day. They went HARD for yrs. If I remember correctly they raided the buildings with the entire police force one day after that little kid got shot sniper style. Glad you made it out safely, but this does explain alot. *smile* j/k
Yeah, they went hard. lol
My grandmother went harder though. If it wasn’t for her I could have suffered the same fate as so many that I grew up with; 50-11 kids, deadbeat jailbird baby daddy, content living off the system and not striving to do better and be better for me and mine. She’s the person I truly owe my survival to.
Oh, and explain deez.
yo my family was one of the first families to live in Robert Taylor..back when it was nice and an ideal place for families (believe it or not)….if she couldn’t believe how far it had fallen in such a short time
“…As an adult of the new millennium, I was glad to see those hellholes torn down and some of the worst get shipped off somewhere else… I briefly thought of other neighborhoods being overrun with our hoodrats and hoodnigg@s….”
Yeah, see, this is the beef I had with all the projects being torn down, basically at once. People in the project life live no other way, and they wind up trying to spread their doctrine all over other neighborhoods and even the, um, darker suburbs, because Daley forbid they get Section 8 in Bridgeport,
or Deerfield, or Naperville,but Homewood? Calumet City? #CmonDown!Why they not gentrifiying (sp) Humboldt Park, but Bronzeville was ripe for picking?
You have a point about project people only knowing one way to live. You can take the nigg@ out the hood…etc. But there were programs available for jobs and schooling being offered free to residents to help them learn a better way. Some took advantage; some didn’t.
As for how they pick and choose which neighborhoods get gentrified, I know that the city had been trying to get Cabrini back for years. It was prime real estate that they felt was going to waste (which it was to be honest).
I don’t remember which high rises came down first, but they all had to go eventually I think. They were originally meant to only be temporary housing and instead became a permanent crutch for the people living and raising generations of families there. I’m grateful for the shelter they provided me and my family when we needed it but I was not sad to see them go.
Loving all the love for Chicago (Southside representing over here).
Friends and I had this conversation last week and basically we came to the conclusion that we’re at that point in our lives where we refuse to phuk with folks who no longer give a phuk, about themselves or others, and have nothing to lose. In addition, we’re unapologetic for our choices. I refuse to apologize for the hard work I’ve put in to be able to afford to live in a “nice” neighborhood. I refuse to apologize for wanting a better quality of life. I refuse to apologize for wanting some semblance of safety when I leave/enter my home. I refuse to apologize for wanting to experience things outside the hood (i.e. fresh produce, assigned seating movie theaters). As someone who now lives Downtown (again, gotta shout out Chicago), I appreciate police foot patrols in my area….community policing meetings….etc, etc. Phuk “Stop Snitching”, I’m all about “He/She went that way!”.
LMFAO @ “He/She went that way!”.
I agree with all of this, my only question is why does it take white people and fancy new businesses to bring all of this? Police foot patrols can and should happen everywhere, not just where people have money.
exactly
@Fivegirl…..It should and it can, but people who don’t have the money usually don’t put forth the effort. I live in an area that is going through gentrification close to an area occupied by housing projects that was once dubbed “Little Vietnam”. The difference I see is that the people who moved in have tried to adopt different ways to dealing with crimes, from having a email newsletter sent out weekly to tell you about things going on in the neighborhood to festivals to any known criminal activity going on in the neighborhood (including a monthly crime report, so you know what crimes have been committed around you so you can be on guard). They have community meetings with the police.
These are all things that could have been done by the people who lived in the neighborhood prior to gentrification to make it better, but chose not to.
Gentrification is not all bad for the local communities. They’ve setup programs to fix housing of long time residents that have gone into disrepair. They have setup a garden and rec centers for the local elementary schools.
“These are all things that could have been done by the people who lived in the neighborhood prior to gentrification to make it better, but chose not to.”
People don’t just choose to live in poverty and let criminals wreak havoc. They just don’t have the education it takes to do something about it, or the belief that they can do anything. Their life experiences have not exactly been empowering. Lets not blame the victims. It’s really easy for us to look at people who live in the ghetto or whatever and say “why don’t they just do what we did, or what the white people are doing?” I could write a whole thesis on the answer to this question, but the bottom line is they don’t, nor did they ever, have the opportunity. So much of where we are and where we go in life depends on things that happened even before we were born, and it hurts my heart to hear people- BLACK people especially- be so flippant about others’ misfortune.
I’ll expound a little on what I mean by them not having the opportunity- it basically comes down to resources and education. Generational poverty exists because of a lack of knowledge. It’s not laziness, or a lack of motivation, or just triflin-ness…if people knew what to do, and had the resources, they would do it. So the failure of the education systems all around the country, as well as other things of course, immensely contribute to this lack of opportunity.
I respectfully disagree having come out the ghetto in a time where we may have been poor, and *some* adults may have been “uneducated” yet we kept an eye out in our community. The retired old people let parents know what was up with their kids and we had community watch. I get nervous when assumptions are made that we are educated, rich and never grew up in a ghetto. Poor people are not a monolith and we are not people who can’t help our choices. Some poor people care and some do not give a bleep about the neighborhood. Matter of fact, it was what made the difference– those who cared and those who did not. It will always be that way –those who love each other & those who hate each other.
“…assigned seating movie theaters”
For real? They do that now?
In Chicago @ the ShowPlace ICON at Roosevelt Collection they do. I don’t believe every theater has this option.
@ChicagoCutie: “I refuse to apologize for the hard work I’ve put in to be able to afford to live in a “nice” neighborhood. I refuse to apologize for wanting a better quality of life. I refuse to apologize for wanting some semblance of safety when I leave/enter my home. I refuse to apologize for wanting to experience things outside the hood (i.e. fresh produce, assigned seating movie theaters).”
To whom much is given, much is expected. You’re living exactly the right way, surrounding yourself with positivity, peace, safety, self-improvement. That is your choice. For others, specifically those displaced by gentrification, which is the topic of the day, that choice doesn’t exist. I hope part of your life work includes helping others get to where you are, ’cause that would be super-awesome.
“I grew up in Cabrini Green on the Northside of Chicago.
As a child of the 90s, I witnessed gang violence and other ghetto bullsht everyday. Running home from school and hiding in hallways for fear of getting hit by a stray bullet. Police brutality when we weren’t being ignored altogether.”
i really do think that people who’ve had their lives directly (and regularly) affected by this type of violence as kids are more likely to be in the “i could give two f*cks” camp.
Yes. I’m seeing this as I’m making my way through the comments.
Eh I’m split. I like the nicer stores and feeling safer, but I don’t like my people being forced out. Growing up, I had a lot of great memories about going to my Uncle’s restaurant in Harlem and now I barely recognize the neighborhood…….I’ve seen gentrification not only move people out of the neighborhood, but out of the city completely because of the high cost of living and lack of opportunities.
“I’ve seen gentrification not only move people out of the neighborhood, but out of the city completely because of the high cost of living and lack of opportunities.”
I agree. It’s a nuanced situation. But empathy is hard to come by.
is your uncle’s restaurant still there?
LOL!!
Me and a friend were just talking about this
White people gentrify…Black people move….
I go to a HBCU where as of late new rent subsidized lofts are on the same block as a pawn shop, the wing spot, and Mahalia Jackon’s Fried Chicken and Pies (yes this place is real)…
And I have gone on record saying that in 5 years that street won’t even be the same anymore…
And i’m with you Champ…people don’t gentrify areas that are decent…
so the black areas played a significant role for black people way back when??
Then why is every liqour store, pawn shop, and weaveporium known to man there?
The problem is the community as a whole has not maintained what it once was…
and the problem becomes not that black people are *forced* to move…
but that white people want to live there…
Its like having toy you don’t play with…then somebody wants it…and jealousy alone makes you not want to share…even though intially you wasn’t even thinking about that toy…
If we as people want to fight gentrification then we need to come up with an alternative
‘cuz right now I can see no better alternative than a white gay couple moving next door…
And at the same time if u want to spend a grip to live in a neighborhood like the crack spot ain’t up the street… be my guest…
ALL OF THIS!!!
“If we as people want to fight gentrification then we need to come up with an alternative”
good point
“If we as people want to fight gentrification then we need to come up with an alternative…”
Yes. I think the problem is a real alternative is developing (blacks acquiring financial knowledge, wealth and property) more slowly than business is happening.
“I think the problem is a real alternative is developing (blacks acquiring financial knowledge, wealth and property) more slowly than business is happening”
This right here says so much. There is a book called “White Like Me” that talks about this very subject. Part of the reason that white folks, arabs, and the indians (red dots not feathers) stay winning is because this drive to be financially apt is bred into their culture. WE on the other hand are more bred for SURVIVAL. . . . Which means there will be a few of us who will be smart enough to learn from past mistakes and make a difference for first ourselves and our own families but not much further beyond that.
For example a man just passed in my hometown at the age of 92. He was one of the only black men to own more than a 50 acres of land in entire state of Ga. He def passed his knowledge on to those who were around when he was able to share it. When this man died you literally saw the downgrade of character and intellect within the generations of his own family tree. That 65-50 range was cool and u can tell that they listened and benefitted, but as you got around those cats in the 30′s and below you really couldn’t tell them apart. . . Its like that knowledge will die with him and those who were alive to hear from him directly.
HOW DO WE FIX THAT!???
I’ve lived in Northern Virginia almost all my life. I don’t know if gentrification is that great for families, but again I live in burbs. I use to live in Arlington and I heard its being gentrified but all I see is trendy bars and fusion restaurants. How are you going to have shisha and mexican food? I don’t know man…
I use to live in Arlington and I heard its being gentrified but all I see is trendy bars and fusion restaurants
that’s how it starts. then, the dog walkers will come
Yes, my friends, I’m a first-hand witness to the world’s most [w]retched 14 letter word: Gentrification.
Though found in other parts of the world, gentrification is an especially American phenomenon: it is the Yang to the Yin of Late Twentieth Century White Flight. Commenters, any other suggestions for the title of the world’s most wretched fourteen-letter word?
it is the Yang to the Yin of Late Twentieth Century White Flight
~~~~
The funny thing about this is that black people can’t seem to make up our collective minds. We got mad when white people ran away from our neighborhoods, stripping away resources, and now we’re mad they’re putting the resources back. It’s ridiculous.
It’s cause we know it’s for “them” and not “us”. Resources are being put back cause “they” want them for themselves. They couldn’t give two shts if “we” had it.
@The Anti-Cool
“It’s cause we know it’s for “them” and not “us”. Resources are being put back cause “they” want them for themselves.”
Is this a problem? I mean it is for me. But if you can enjoy it even though it’s “for them” then it’s cool right?
It’s not a problem for me. I use whatever is available. Be it the Jewel’s or the Target or the corner store or the neighborhood market.
I love seeing and patronizing black-owned businesses. It’s not my fault that “we” don’t provide for “us” making them few and far between.
That stuff is for them? I’d never know because I eat at all the restaurants, work out at the gym and dance studios, eat at the pinkberry and cupcake joint, and shop at the whole foods as often as possible. I even make friends with “them”… crazy, huh?
And funny enough, no one has ever stopped me and said I couldn’t participate because I’m black.
Moreover, what exactly is wrong with moving to an area, purchasing property, and wanting to add resources that suit your taste? Are you as a homeowner not paying (in addition to state and federal income taxes which already entitle you to a say) a substantial amount in property taxes? Doesn’t some of that money go to the local school and to the local park, and wherever else?
Are you just supposed to not contribute to the area (that you just spent a grip to live in) solely because you haven’t put in as much time as the other (non-property-tax-paying) residents? How does that make any sense?
It’s for “them” in the sense that these new resources are only there cause they wanted them. They aren’t stopping “us” from using them too but they would never have built any of it for us specifically. If the gentrifiers didn’t want access to those resources they wouldn’t be there. Period.
@TheAnti-Cool
“It’s for “them” in the sense that these new resources are only there cause they wanted them. They aren’t stopping “us” from using them too but they would never have built any of it for us specifically. If the gentrifiers didn’t want access to those resources they wouldn’t be there. Period.”
Cosign. I was going to say the same thing.
I knew we’d find something to agree on.
Well, yeah, that seems obvious. Why would I pour money and resources into an area I don’t live in and won’t benefit from? Gentrifiers aren’t generally making that much money to just be giving it away. If they were, they’d be living in areas that are far more posh, no?
Funny story about that. About three miles north of me, there was some nice unused river front property smack dab in the middle of the hood. They made a whole fancy hotel resort complex out of it. Now they are actively trying to keep us out. It’s funny. Lobbying to restrict bus service, parking is sky high. One nightsome of us were sipping drinks and decided to go see who was showing the big Pacquiao fight. Dozens of bars, nobody showing it. After walking around confused, one hostess said they’d agreed, they didn’t want that “element”. But theyre just stupid and I expect they will get over it.
Why should “they” put them there for “us”? “Here’s a shiny new Starbucks, don’t mess it up, m’kay?”
Yeah, last I checked it doesn’t work that way either.
@Carol
The only people that were mad were the middle class Black folks still left in the neighborhoods. They moved in on the premise that White folks would stick around and make sure it stayed nice for them.
white flight back in the day was problematic b/c they really did leave in droves, which meant half-empty neighborhoods, & houses becoming occupied by “undesirables” in an attempt just to fill them. on a micro-level, this brings down the value of the neighborhood. on a macro level, en masse departure of whites to the surrounding suburbs meant that companies moved resources (office buildings, headquarters, etc) to the suburbs instead of keeping them in the cities, which was detrimental to blacks left behind.
valid reason to be bothered.
now the gentrification, i see some benefits. i’m certainly glad that trap houses disappear once the critical mass of white people come. but driving up property values just so the schools can stay sh(tty, & all the “natives” can work the register at whole foods doesn’t really seem like an even trade.
“white flight back in the day was problematic b/c they really did leave in droves, which meant half-empty neighborhoods, & houses becoming occupied by “undesirables” in an attempt just to fill them.”
A good example of this is what happened in the northern part of North Philly. I lived with a woman in North Philly my Junior year of undergrad due to Temple not allowing upperclassman to live in dorms. On the street there were some nice houses and then there would be empty houses or empty lots. The lady I lived with explained that the whole neighborhood use to be white, when she (a black woman) moved to the there. As more blacks moved to the area, the whites started leaving in groups. Instead of people moving into these houses, the houses were left abandoned. As a result, many turned to crack houses and locations for crime. The cities response then was to tear all the empty houses down creating eye sores everywhere. There were whole blocks of houses being torn down. Now you can buy a house in that area for 9,000 dollars. Who would want to? The area just looks abandoned. This is mainly due to the white flight.
@Boron the Negromancer
“it is the Yang to the Yin of Late Twentieth Century White Flight.”
I stay in the city that’s the poster child of White Flight. While it did remove resources one thing that no one never speaks on is why didn’t Black folks with the means pick up the slack? I’ve watched Mexicans, Bangladeshi’s, Indians, etc. come here and build up neighborhoods. You don’t need Fortune 500 companies to do this. All these neighborhoods are solid areas composed of mostly small businesses.
I’ve watched Mexicans, Bangladeshi’s, Indians, etc. come here and build up neighborhoods.
Truth…
and they did it as IMMIGRANTS. If there was any one group who is PRIME for getting screwed over it is immigrants who are moving to a country where they know nothing.. We not only have a command of the english language we also should know what works and what doesn’t…
we used to strive to own businesses…now we work hard for someone else..
Exactly.
@theeclectic
Right. I think part of it is rooted in Black people chasing after an American Dream that was not meant for them. We are still following someone else’s standard. Immigrants come with their own agenda. They come here to take advantage of the opportunities not to be able just to have nice things.
you know i firmly believe that is the backlash from being educated…
our elders encouraged us to pursue higher education…higher education encouraged us to work for someone else….
it used to be seen as honorable to learn a trade or skill…now its seen as less than..
now lo and behold we have become a generation where now the majority of us don’t have the technical skills to create a business and profit off of it..
something community driven like barber/beauty shops, restaurants, retail/boutique stores, househild services etc.
The very things that gentrification is gloryfing and bringing back is the very thing we can’t do…
as for immigrants there is a lot to be learned from them. I have seen literally dozens of families prosper off of one…
Just by the first family being smart with a business then subsequently bringing others over, they profit, and in turn do the same thing…sigh…if only..
You are just making too much sense to me tonight.
It is possible that the “hometown advantage” that Blacks have as English-speaking US natives does not produce an economic head start for them: the enduring negatives of slavery, segregation, and other racist institutions and norms net out the situation into a radical disadvantage.
The circumstances complex as even the dismantling of racist systems has hurt Black economic prospects. For instance, integration, ushered in by the Civil Rights Movement, inadvertently laid waste to Black-owned businesses by making them redundant.
Mexicans, Bangladeshi’s, Indians, etc. come here and build up neighborhoods…as IMMIGRANTS.
We not only have a command of the english language we also should know what works and what doesn’t.
Yes and no: The aforementioned entrepreneurs are self-selected immigrants with very specific goals of financial success. African-American Blacks are not. Yet, in a way, immigrants and upwardly mobile A-A Blacks are very similar: the lucky few among A-A Blacks often move out of their neighborhoods and find their fortune; Immigrants arrive in the US from the giant Section 8 projects that they call developing countries (ahem…Mexico? Bangladesh? Yemen?) to start successful businesses.
agreed.
but the catch is 9 times out of 10 they are prospering in areas where they are not the majority.
I’ve lost count of how many middle easterners own convenience stores in my old hood..
how many Koreans own hair stores,
The only thing that we have seem to maintain is food service..and even that leaves much to be desired…
Shouldn’t nobody who has never lived in the area, has no clue about the culture, and can barely speak your language..come into YOUR neighborhood and SELL you products SPECIFIC to you…
that makes no sense to me
whether they are self selected or not…if they are going to come into a black neighborhood and sell hair (for example) then they need to be competing with a black owned hair shop
My point was/is AA’s have the means and the understanding to know what is lacking in their own communities and they should address it..yet time and again we don’t take advantage of our opportunities in pursuit of “loftier” goals
Time and again we don’t take advantage of our opportunities in pursuit of “loftier” goals.
First off, I am not sure what you mean by loftier goals. Nonetheless, I shall…proceed…and continue…to write this note.
When bourgeois AA’s commit to business ventures in the inner city, they can be no less shameless in their profiteering than the immigrants.
This is not always the case: Chicago’s Sweet Beginnings employs ex-convicts to grant them work experience. There is more information here:
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20110501/social-entrepreneurs-finding-jobs-for-ex-offenders.html
In creating such initiatives, Sweet Beginnings and other organizations tackle entrenched issues of urban poverty while making a buck or two. So, unlike immigrant robber-barons, these organizations potentially leave their communities better off.
And the other side of AA hardship’s proverbial coin (mostly) has been a culture that people constantly want to enjoy and to replicate. Hip hop music is a global phenomenon. Will Smith is King of the Box Office. Academics celebrate jazz as the first truly American art form. “Lofty” achievements indeed.
yay to this comment & thanks for sharing the info about Sweet Beginnings.
Damn…Boron, you probably don’t realize it but you just gave me so much fuel that I needed this morning. That Sweet Beginnings thing is exactly the type of project I’m trying to be a part of. It’s like the mission of my life laid out before me when I’ve been spending all this time trying to figure out how to do both help disadvantaged blacks and be an entrepreneur/build wealth for myself. Your whole post was on point man. And the lofty goals is indeed what most young blacks are chasing. I’m still recovering from thinking that I was going to the NBA until I was about 17…smh
My new goal in life won’t depend on me being at least 6’5″ so although it will by no means be easy, it’s certainly possible, and more importantly way more fulfilling. Awesome posts. Everybody’s been on point with the comments today also. I’m learning so much.
@Boron:
I knew of Sweet Miss Givings, which operates a bakery/job training program for the homeless, but thanks for providing info about Sweet Beginnings.
http://sweetmissgiving.com/
“Shouldn’t nobody who has never lived in the area, has no clue about the culture, and can barely speak your language..come into YOUR neighborhood and SELL you products SPECIFIC to you…”
You can blame the media machine for portraying an image of us world wide. How many baffoon b-movies have made their way overseas (Jim Crow Blackface to Friday)?
We validate those images when we then patronize the stores that are set up in our neighborhoods and then complain when they don’t hire us or provide us with sub par service.
Heck if I was an immigrant, I would watch a few gangsta movies, open a liquor store, employ my homies, and make money while enjoying the American dream too.
I say the only difference is saving vs spending. If we saved money like them instead of getting in debt to buy status, we would have businesses. I spent the last ten years working with immigrants and you won’t see them renting rims. When you see a maid with 30k in the bank, you start to get a clue.
Folks this stems from the generations that are growing up, but also the immediately previous generations. If they are being imbued with the seized and knowledge to want to even consider working for themselves, then cool. But, they not.
A prime example is landscaping. We can make allowances for the illegals who work under the table and the crappy business who hire these folks. They just wrong and will get dealt with. These facts not withstanding, how many of our youngsters don’t want to work these kinds of jobs because they feel that the job is beneath them?
But to tie it all together, if the youngins don’t aren’t being imbued with the knowledge because they go to a lower performing school, because their family got pushed out of an area that has been gentrified, then it very well starts a cycle that will continuously perpetuate until the community takes a stand and at the very least attempt to initiate some change through communal and legislative channels.
Commenters, any other suggestions for the title of the world’s most wretched fourteen-letter word?
i was going to say “kardashian” but it’s only 12 letters
i was going to say “kardashian” but it’s only 12 letters
Yes, but I will give you credit for being the only person (so far) to attempt to answer the question!
“Hyperinflation” is my suggestion.
Going once, twice, thrice…
CASE CLOSED!
…that works for the Kardashians too.
OMG! Aren’t cupcakes like the biggest thing now?? I don’t get it.
My neighborhood is getting there. A few more places in between they need to get rid of but my place is nice, so I’m pretty much happy. We just don’t have a Starbucks yet…
This always happens. Happened when our grandparents got a little money and moved out of the city. We’re just moving back.
OMG! Aren’t cupcakes like the biggest thing now?? I don’t get it.
From Inc. Magazine:
The recipe is so simple—flour, sugar, eggs, butter, milk, and salt—it gives the entrepreneur room to project.
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20110501/the-great-cupcake-wars.html
You are welcome.
I DO NOT get this fascination. It really is huge though.
It’s a whole cake in your hand. What’s not to get?
I ::heart:: this post.
I busted my ass to get through school, couldn’t find a job, switched fields by teaching myself a new set of skills, and finally found decent paying work in a city with out of control rents. So I resent the notion that I’m a bad person because I found an up and coming (read: cheap but gentrifying) area to live in. I went where the rents were cheapest and the local quality of goods and/or services were the highest. I am black and so don’t fit the typical role of white gentrifier, but my moving in has the same effect. Am I supposed to overstretch my budget to live in an overpriced area just so this or that area can stay black and poor?
Even more irritating is the assumption that I’m anti-gentrification other people make when talking to me about the subject. Yes, it can be difficult to have to move to a place you’ve gotten used to, but you know the best way to prevent being forced out by increasing rents?
Buy property.
Someone needs to send a newsflash to our people: You don’t have a right to live anyplace you don’t own.
Why buy property when you can buy new rims or that Louis you been eying?
PREACH!!!!!!!!
Many of us often fall victim to the advertising machine that is American status machine. If there was a fly ad that said homeownership is the new sexy, we would be on our grind.
You don’t have a right to live anyplace you don’t own.
Let the church say, “Amen.”
AMEN. *waves church fan atcha*
I see where you’re coming from, and even agree with some of your points, but just because you own a place doesn’t mean gentrification won’t force you out. If the property taxes increase exponentially due to the new economic investment and you can’t afford to pay them (like some elderly people or new buyers) then you may be forced to leave, even if you do own the place. I had a friend in grad school who bought a house, and when her neighborhood became up and coming, her property taxes increased by about $3000.
+1
Property taxes change. You know that when you buy a house. I’m not saying it doesn’t suck a$$ I’m just saying you know it could happen, LOL. If her property taxes increased that much that (probably) meant her home value increased too.
or it was purposely inflated…
But her point is that this is still gentrification. I agree.
” couldn’t find a job, switched fields by teaching myself a new set of skills”
This is where I’m at in life. If you don’t mind me asking, what set of skills did you teach yourself? I’m open to ideas.
” but you know the best way to prevent being forced out by increasing rents?
Buy property.
Someone needs to send a newsflash to our people: You don’t have a right to live anyplace you don’t own.”
truth.com, we as a people are figuring this out. It’s only a matter of time before we arrive at the table to eat. I’m optimistic
Apologies for the delay, didn’t see this. I’m a web developer. Back end. Not a designer.
It’s a great field that pays well and doesn’t require a degree. Just enthusiasm, competence, and a desire to keep learning.
Yes indeed!
As a Brooklynite, I HATE gentrification. I can also get why you don’t care. There are neighborhoods that can/have benefitted from gentrification, but I feel like brooklyn was fine. cupcakes add nothing to a neighborhood. And safety doesn’t come from having white people around, it comes from having white people around that the police care to protect, so in my opinion, all you really needed to improve your neighborhoods before gentrification was a better more invested police force. I think it’s a shame when people are priced out of a house they spent all of their middle age trying to pay for. I think it’s sad when people’s businesses that they wanted to leave as a legacy for their children fail because Target moves in. New York was defined by mom and pop for a long time for a reason, it brought character, personality and quality and I think that’s what we lose in this gentrification mess
Last I checked, there weren’t any national chains of cupcake stores, so I’m sure that cupcake store you think doesn’t add anything is also a mom & pop shop as well. A savvy business owner should be able to take note of the changing clientele and begin catering to them as well.
That is, a bodega could start surveying the neighborhood to see what new items it should stock. Hell, if I were that middle age black couple I might put some of that house savings into my own cupcake shop…
” I think it’s a shame when people are priced out of a house they spent all of their middle age trying to pay for.”
So property taxes stay fixed forever? I’m all for it, but that’s not realistic.
“I think it’s sad when people’s businesses that they wanted to leave as a legacy for their children fail because Target moves in…”
They only fail because people choose to go to Target, right?
Yeah. but there’s increase, and there’s 4 x as much in one year.
SN: Cute hair!
“And safety doesn’t come from having white people around, it comes from having white people around that the police care to protect, so in my opinion, all you really needed to improve your neighborhoods before gentrification was a better more invested police force”
it comes from neither. it comes from being around people (black, white, or whatever) who aren’t interested in committing crimes and won’t tolerate them being committed.
“it comes from being around people (black, white, or whatever) who aren’t interested in committing crimes and won’t tolerate them being committed.”
and higher property taxes that can fund more police and better schools.
“it comes from being around people (black, white, or whatever) who aren’t interested in committing crimes and won’t tolerate them being committed.”
Just felt that bared repeating.
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted *waves to everybody*
I’m from Brooklyn, what’s wrong with gentrification? I love what it’s done to Fort Greene. Do you remember Ft. Greene of the 90s? The constant robberies, gang violence, kids getting jumped and having their sneakers jacked?
While I agree with you that a police force that cares about the people they police is needed to reduce crime and uplift a community, the people of the neighborhood must care about their community. My cousin used to be a cop and the Ft Greene area was his precinct and him and his partner used to always tell us that the people WOULD NOT cooperate with the police. They would canvass the neighborhood for witnesses to a robbery or shooting and no one saw anything. Why should I feel bad that people who care about the neighborhoods they live in have taken over? I’m from an area that’s about to be gentrified. Last time I went home I saw they put a Starbucks at Gateway mall, I told my old friends “gentrification is coming to ENY”. It is what it is, where were the people of the neighborhood to complain when Compare and Pioneer forced out the local vegetable stand owners or when chain hardware stores forced out the local hardware shops or when the Dominican Salon popped up everywhere forcing out the long time black owned salons?
I graduated from Brooklyn Tech in the early 90s. You ain’t lying. Fort Greene was rugged. Decepticons running about robbing people. Earrings being snatched. Eight ball jackets being jacked. They don’t play that ish in Ft. Greene now. I can’t be mad a t that.
Go engineers (the worst name for a football team ever). Nice to meet another techie.
I think it’s easy not to care until it happens to you. Does the saying, “There but for the grace of God go I” resonate with anyone anymore?
I didn’t grow up in a city, so I didn’t have to deal with dodging bullets and drug dealers when I was growing up. I can’t even really imagine how stressful growing up in that kind of environment must be. So, on the one hand, I can understand what a relief it must be to feel as if you’re not living under siege on a daily basis.
However, while gentrification can bring safer streets, more retail investment, improvements to infrastructure, and beautification of neighborhoods, it also brings with it harsher policing of “undesirable” elements (and undesirable could just = being black), increased rent and home purchasing prices, fewer locally owned businesses (in lieu of big box retailers and/or more expensive “boutique” businesses), and residents who have little regard for the culture, custom, and history of the people and neighborhood into which they just moved. Please remember that for years banks, mortgage brokers, real estate agents, and politicians had actual policy and laws in place to limit where black and brown people could live. If jobs left or neighborhoods were blighted, politicians and developers did nothing to re-develop said ‘hoods. Please remember that in the most recent mortgage crisis black people were overcharged and given crappy ARMs even with good credit history and sufficient down payments. Gentrification is another example of how systemic inequalities are exploited for the material gain of those who are usually the least exploited in society.
So, yes, it’s nice to have conveniences and amenities in a neighborhood. But I think it’s more than off-putting that cities don’t see fit to start promoting development in neighborhoods full of black and brown people until white people start showing up. Even if a neighborhood is mixed-income, if it’s full of black and brown people, the investment dollars don’t really trickle in until white people start showing up.
Since this is already long, I’m not even going to talk about how gentrification drives up home prices which means that many black people may not be able to remain in their neighborhoods (even when they have decent jobs) when they want to purchase a place to live and/or what happens (in this crappy economy) if you find yourself unemployed for a large stretch of time.
Again, “there but for the grace of God go I.”
@Monday’s Baby
Cosign 110% Your comment has made you one of my favorite commenter. Its funny how when suburbs were booming and there was White Flight, and there was disinvestment from central cities and investment in suburbs. Now that suburbs are unattractive, unsustainable, boring, etc. and White folks want to move back to the city all the investment comes back. And Black and Brown people are punted to another area to be ignored.
I was just getting ready to co-sign your comment. I just want folks to wake up to the social-political-economic realities of what’s currently going on. Gentrification isn’t some random thing that just happens. It’s aided and promoted by political policies and economic investment. What you say about the suburbs (and exurbs) is very true. Gentrification is still undergirded by the poison of white supremacist policies. And since I’m not white, I have no choice but to care.
This! Preach sista!
+1
it also brings with it harsher policing of “undesirable” elements (and undesirable could just = being black)
~~~~~
This is really overstating the level of racism present in gentrifying areas. If you can pay the rent/qualify, most landlords will take you. If you suspect unlawful discrimination, call your local Fair Housing organization.
increased rent and home purchasing prices
~~~~~
If the property and it’s surrounding area have improved, why shouldn’t the owners be able to charge more for it?
Please remember that for years banks, mortgage brokers, real estate agents, and politicians had actual policy and laws in place to limit where black and brown people could live.
~~~~~
Yes, but many decades have passed in the meantime and these laws are no longer on the books. How many more decades need to pass before we stop bringing this up as a reason for all our housing/property issues?
Please remember that in the most recent mortgage crisis black people were overcharged and given crappy ARMs even with good credit history and sufficient down payments.
~~~~~~
ARMs were offered to black people at higher rates, but I suspect part of this was financial illiteracy on the part of those taking off loans. If you are making a major purchase such as a home, it is very important to be aware of those details. My family also purchased a home in the past 5-10 years, and we said no to ARMs and purchased a home in our budget.
But I think it’s more than off-putting that cities don’t see fit to start promoting development in neighborhoods full of black and brown people until white people start showing up.
~~~~~~
I think this is the biggest problem with your argument and what seems to be the mentality behind it. The “city” doesn’t just decide it wants to help one area and not the other. It’s the people who own property in the area who decide they want to keep up their homes, have access to better services, and increase police presence until violence and crime begins to dissipate. If politicians/the city begin to pay attention to previously blighted areas, it’s because the people in that neighborhood have organized and made a big deal about the things they see wrong about the area. Black people need to get away from this idea that everyone is getting help by some outside force but us. The reality is that other people are helping themselves.
Too often the black people in these areas are complacent about how bad the neighborhood has become, or antagonistic toward the things that might help improve it. For instance, while white people see policemen as a positive force in the neighborhood, our community’s relationship with police is more… troubled. So no, it’s not like you can just add more police to a black neighborhood and get the same results.
@Carol
“It’s the people who own property in the area who decide they want to keep up their homes, have access to better services, and increase police presence until violence and crime begins to dissipate.”
This the problem right here. The people left in the area don’t own the property and don’t have the means to own. You can easily see the difference in neighborhoods where the residents are renters and where they are owners.
It may be a problem, but how is it a problem for the people who saved up and purchased property? I’d argue it isn’t.
I’d also argue that renting is the equivalent of signing up for a nomadic lifestyle. People need to stop acting like paying rent for a few years gives them so much say over how the property is managed.
The terms of a rental are generally short-term and confined within the body of your lease. Anything beyond that is up to the owner.
Well, given what’s happened to the housing market along with depressed wages and very slow job creation, more and more people are likely to be renters for longer periods of their lives. I think that renters should have some protections in place (i.e. caps on how much rent can be increased annually, etc.). Many landlords wouldn’t be able to pay their rent if they didn’t have tenants.
Also, the cost of purchasing a home varies widely across the country. I live in an area where real estate is very expensive. And each year I see more and more luxury condos being built and much less affordable housing. Even with several degrees and a “good” salary, it’ll be difficult for me to purchase a condo here. I’m actually doing research into how to form a cooperative in order to buy a home with a group of folks as a collective. I think our generation and the ones following may need to start 1) rethinking the traditional “American Dream” and 2) finding innovative ways to become property owners.
@Humble_One:
Because one doesn’t own the property doesn’t mean one still can’t take pride in how said property is represented…after all, you are living there. Granted I don’t expect renters to bore the full responsibility brunt for upkeep, but damn, is it so hard to just maintain? What happened to taking pride in where you live? In Chicago, the Chatham neighborhood springs to mind; an area which was exclusively middle class blacks, and you had to know someone in order to get in. However, as homeowners aged, they began to rent their homes and the neighborhood standard began to slip. The area is now overrun with folks who believe it’s ok to BBQ on the front lawn, boarded up skeleton homes and a high crime rate.
@ChicagoCutie
I understand. But people when you’re poor you just don’t think that way. People really underestimate the dysfunction and different way of thinking when you’re poor. I personally didn’t understand it at one time. I grew up middle class. But having friends that grew up poor I started noticing similar behavior and ways of thinking and it was rooted in being poor. I might argue that being poor is just as mental as it is economic.
Tell me about it. Living in New York, you can tell where the Black people rent and where the Black people own. It’s like night and day. There’s nothing like owning a small piece of your community to make people care.
Yes.
+1 AND, technically when you rent you aren’t supposed to be responsible for stuff like keeping the house painted/presentable, adequate plumbing, etc. Yeah, cut the grass- but what about the rest of it? People seem to forget that it’s the responsibility of the person who OWNS the house to do the major things associated with upkeep (unless it’s in your lease I suppose, but really I think that’s the minority) Why are renters in poor areas expected to do the work of the owners? Yes, people have the responsibility to help keep the block “right” but really, falling gutters and shyt? Sigh.
So renters have no responsibility for the property (outside of the lease terms) since they don’t own it, but if the owner decides to sell that property to or make more rent money from gentrifiers that’s not okay?
If a renter has an absentee or non compliant landlord there are a number of ways said renter could address the issue. The first of which is moving to a better location.
You make it sound a lot easier than it is. Not everyone can just pick up and move like that.
Except that low-income people have some of the highest mobility rates in the country. Of-topic but this is a huge part of why so many of our kids fall behind in school. They are constantly moving from one district to another…
I doubt most of that is by choice.
Doesn’t matter. It’s in indication that when push comes to shove, the poor are capable of moving themselves to other areas.
not only that, but as a homeowner it’s your responsibility to do the major upkeep of your property. that’s the supposed to be the main advantage of renting as opposed to owning, in the 1st place.
“So renters have no responsibility for the property (outside of the lease terms) since they don’t own it.” Where did I say they have _no_ responsibility? But TRUE, they DON’T have responsibility for major repairs like that – *that* is supposed to be the benefit of renting- do you expect the people renting nice apartments to pay for busted pipes and failing siding? No, you don’t, that’s what the *rent* is for. Why is this different for poor neighborhoods? Oh wait, I think there’s a term for it: slumlord.
And if it were *that* easy to up and move to a “better” neighborhood, more people would probably do so…
Also: Being a renter doesn’t mean you are absolutely helpless when it comes to maintaining the space you are living in. As a renter, I won’t be replacing floors and all that, but I’m likely going to add a few light fixtures, throw up some paint, etc.
My aunt lives in a building in the projects in a neighborhood with many Hasidic Jews. Even though it’s in the hood, the few apartments I’ve been able to peak into have nice flooring, beautiful light fixtures, fresh paint jobs… etc.
I’m not implying helplessness. I’m talking about responsibility. I’m saying that it’s really convenient for people to ignore the fact that the lack of “beauty” in the properties in the hood is also due to the blatant undervaluing of a whole class of people by the people who actually OWN, and are therefore RESPONSIBLE for said property.
I rarely give up, but, sigh….
i loved all your comments, & i feel you…don’t give up!
Just FYI: My problem with your line of argument isn’t that you think there should be some way of helping these people. It’s that 1. you couch it in terms that makes people in the ghetto seem completely helpless and 2. you don’t give good (if any) real advice.
You seem to want to argue that there’s some systematic issue keeping people down. I think the best way to help people is to be real about the situation. And the situation is that if you don’t want to deal with the troubles of a landlord, you need to make home ownership a priority. And if you don’t want to deal with an absentee landlord, you need to make some sacrifices to live in a better area or be more careful about where you rent.
And I say all this as the daughter of a woman who mostly raised my sisters (one of whom is handicapped) alone in the hood. She made stable housing a priority, and as a result we’ve never had to live in filth. We also took exceptionally good care of the rentals we’ve had…
“Also: Being a renter doesn’t mean you are absolutely helpless when it comes to maintaining the space you are living in. As a renter, I won’t be replacing floors and all that, but I’m likely going to add a few light fixtures, throw up some paint, etc.”
I agree. In my neighborhood, we plant plants/flowers and some people even have a garden. I even have a neighbor who picks up around the yard when he sees trash. Yes, I rent, but since I have to live there, I care about its upkeep.
I think this is the biggest problem with your argument and what seems to be the mentality behind it. The “city” doesn’t just decide it wants to help one area and not the other. It’s the people who own property in the area who decide they want to keep up their homes, have access to better services, and increase police presence until violence and crime begins to dissipate. If politicians/the city begin to pay attention to previously blighted areas, it’s because the people in that neighborhood have organized and made a big deal about the things they see wrong about the area.
I disagree with several of your points, but this is the one that I really take issue with. Mayors, members of the city council, prominent business people/developers certainly do decide who they will and want to help. And as of late (well, at least in NYC) that has been developers and owners of larger businesses. Also, people who organize and protest what goes in their neighborhoods do protest. However, those protesting aren’t always able to sway the mayors, city council members, and developers. That’s what happened with the Atlantic Yards deal in Brooklyn. Sometimes, people are able to effect change with tons of hard work and persistence (see: story about the Capital Manor Cooperative in D.C.) But usually, the folks with the most capital and political influence win.
Bottom line, I understand that with everything in life, taking responsibility (or as much as is possible) for your well-being is necessary. However, I am also very aware that most of us are functioning within a system that does not have our best interest at heart (as people). Those two concepts are not mutually exclusive.
This I agree with.
@ Monday’s Baby
I gotta start with love the Jem and the Holograms throwback pic.
I disagree with some of your comments. Mayors and city council members listen to people that vote. Our voting numbers (black people) in non Presidential years is terrible!
The difference between yesteryear and today is that black folk voted in blocks (democrat for the most part) and in mass. Potential politicians would NEED to make the rounds in the churches and we would have serious questions about how he/she planned to represent our communities. Now we don’t participate as vigorously as we should. We don’t ask the tough questions before folks get into office.
Because of restrictive housing covenants, the tax base in our neighborhoods was stronger because of the socio-economic mix of high, middle, low income families, and black businesses all living / working in the same neighborhood. A mayor counting on tax revenue isn’t going to tamper too much. Now with the freedom to choose where you can live, most cities are paying the rents via section 8 and those who own in the community have lost the leverage they once enjoyed.
This scenario can be viewed as one of the many negative effects of integration.
Gotta love Shana…she was holding it down for the funky brown in The Holograms. Lol!
You are very correct that in order to have your voice heard or considered by City Hall you have to be an active civic citizen. City council seats are just as important (and sometimes more) as who we elect for president. However, depending upon the mayor and city council in place, the needs/wants/desires of the those with the most capital (read: corporations; those who are wealthiest) can subvert those of the constituents. But I do think large groups of people stayed marching on city hall 5 out of 7 days of the week, things would be a bit better for regular folks.
Mayors, members of the city council, prominent business people/developers certainly do decide who they will and want to help.
~~~~
It’s misleading for you to mix all these groups together as if the order they operate in is irrelevant. It’s not that there’s never been an instance where a local government has decided to revitalize an area on it’s own. That is happening more frequently as people move into cities. But that isn’t usually how it goes.
For the most part the order goes (artists/creatives) > developers > Government Officials>business people. That is, young artists come in search of low rent and bring their friends with them, developers see the area becoming a hot spot, the developers go to their local government officials, the officials see opportunities for economic growth (re-election!), and finally, government begins to solicit businessmen and developers to build more into the area.
Governments usually have a very hard time trying to get developers to start building in areas that haven’t been proven in some way. And let’s be real, even when government DOES decide to revitalize an area FOR poor black neighborhoods, it ends the EXACT same way. Why? Because once the area has resources, it becomes a desirable place to live and property values inevitably rise.
“It’s misleading for you to mix all these groups together as if the order they operate in is irrelevant. It’s not that there’s never been an instance where a local government has decided to revitalize an area on it’s own.”
Not true.
Since we are all self serving, the order you presented will vary based upon who identifies the need first. You begin down this path when you speak about Government enticing developers. Government has identified the need (city blight, the need to improve the tax base, housing shortages, etc.) The pitch is made to gain consensus (economic incentives to developers, homebuyers, citizens)
If the need is identifed by the people, artsy folk in your example, the means to get consensus is via elected officials who in turn attempt to gain buy in from higher levels of Government who have the ability to provide the incentives.
Great point regarding complacency vs. action. It’s as if people think that all white folks do is sit there being white and all of a sudden the city hands them services on a platter. They have neighborhood associations, HOA’s, etc. White folks often take the liberty b*tch and moan to the city to fix things when they are broken. They do work behind the scenes to keep their neighborhoods the way they are.
So very true! I too now b*itch like a mug to my alderman when ish on my street ain’t on point. Case in point, AT&T came, tore up our street to install new cell towers, then had the gall to leave our street JACKED. Um, no bueno. Got right on the internets and began sending emails to the alderman. When he didn’t respond fast enough, IMO, I began to call. It took about 2 weeks, but our street is now nicely paved.
lol, love your proactiveness (no infomercial : D
I’ve learned the game has an established set of rules and while I may not necessarily be able to change said rules, I sure as hell can use them to my advantage.
“I think this is the biggest problem with your argument and what seems to be the mentality behind it. The “city” doesn’t just decide it wants to help one area and not the other. It’s the people who own property in the area who decide they want to keep up their homes, have access to better services, and increase police presence until violence and crime begins to dissipate. If politicians/the city begin to pay attention to previously blighted areas, it’s because the people in that neighborhood have organized and made a big deal about the things they see wrong about the area. Black people need to get away from this idea that everyone is getting help by some outside force but us. The reality is that other people are helping themselves.”
I also have a bit of a problem with this because city administrations can and do chose who they will and won’t help. I’m in Texas and a lot of the problem we have with sprawl is because people have the money to build huge housing developments outside the city and even the suburbs, but then have to request that the city extend things like fire services, roads and water and electric service further and further out, creating a burden on those in the center city and previously existing suburbs. Instead of spending the money to extend these services (which may or may not be recouped in the form of taxes), why couldn’t they invest the money in making the schools and services within the current city limits better? If people want to build exclusive develoments, then perhaps they should pay for their own libraries, police, roads, water, etc. And is that even the kind of society we want to live in — only those who can pay top dollar for safe, peaceful housing can have it?
So far, what I have seen of Monday’s Baby, I love.
Thank you for speaking in such a manner.
Your thoughts are appreciated.
Many thanks, Sagey Bear!
“I didn’t grow up in a city, so I didn’t have to deal with dodging bullets and drug dealers when I was growing up. I can’t even really imagine how stressful growing up in that kind of environment must be. So, on the one hand, I can understand what a relief it must be to feel as if you’re not living under siege on a daily basis.”
i don’t mean to be dismissive, but your (lack of) experience with “living under siege” makes it very hard for me to take your anti-gentrification opinions seriously. like I mentioned upthread, I believe that your perspective would be completely different now if you did grow up in one of those communities.
i don’t mean to be dismissive, but your (lack of) experience with “living under siege” makes it very hard for me to take your anti-gentrification opinions seriously. like I mentioned upthread, I believe that your perspective would be completely different now if you did grow up in one of those communities.
With all due respect, Champ, I think it’s bullsh*t if you can’t take my opinions on gentrification seriously because of where and how I grew up. I have lived in a northeastern city for over five years now. I’ll likely settle and look to purchase some kind of property for dwelling here. So, gentrification is and will affect what happens in my life (and, obviously, the lives of others). Does that make my opinion more valid now?
As I said in my original comment, I didn’t grow up in a high-crime, urban area. But that doesn’t mean I can’t learn about an issue now and develop an opinion about it. I’ve never been incarcerated nor has anyone in my immediate or not-too immediate family. Does that mean I shouldn’t give a f*ck about the prison-industrial complex and all the lives it affects (not to mention the black community at large)? It’s fine to have differing opinions, but I am crystal clear that my life experience does not invalidate mine as it pertains to this issue.
thanks!
I have a love/hate of gentrification. It is great and comfortable on a superficial level. Underneath it’s sad an also a facade. The reason why gentrification happens to Black neighborhoods is because of all the reason Champ and other VSB and VSS sing the praises of gentrification. Black neighborhoods are only Black neighborhoods because Black people stay there not because they own it. They are basically areas of disposable people (in a free market sense). When you don’t have a stake in the area you stay in you can easily be displaced. They are fodder for creating wealth for immigrants and exploitation candidates for corporations. Which is ironic to me. I still don’t get why everyone can seem to make money off of poor Black people but middle class Black people. This post reminds me more of how divided Black people are class wise and how some of us would rather poor Black people where made to be sterile and killed off in one strike.
I hope I never get to the point where I don’t care. In matter of fact I won’t get to the point where I don’t care. Why? Because the point you don’t care is when you become a mark for those that get displaced. Hopefully you will make enough money where you are far enough or the police and prison industrial complex will protect you from them. If not those same people you don’t care about will be in your house eating your food, putting a gun to your head, and tearing your nice ish up. e.g. London 2011, Detroit and Newark 1967, L.A. 1992, etc. .
Great post and good food for thought. However, it’s worth realizing how some of us get to the point where we don’t care anymore. It’s exhausting caring about people who don’t care about themselves. I don’t mean that as a generalization. That’s based on my dealings with folks in my pre-Ph.D. days.
And anyone who wants to attack me and loot my home just because I’m not poor is a criminal and an @-hole.
@Royale W. Cheese
“it’s exhausting caring about people who don’t care about themselves.”
To a certain degree I understand why they don’t care. They have to be shown why they should care. I think people don’t understand the mentality of poor folks. When you are uneducated especially in an urban area some basic things you simply do not know. It’s part of the pervasiveness of poverty. Being poor is almost like cancer in how it affects your thinking.
“And anyone who wants to attack me and loot my home just because I’m not poor is a criminal and an @-hole.”
Or they’re hungry or don’t have the skills to get it on their own.
Being hungry and/or ignorant doesn’t make you any less of an @sshole for taking what doesn’t belong to you.
@TheAnti-Cool
I agree. Trust I’ve taken guns and other items to someone trying to take mine. I’m just acknowledging both sides. It’s not black and white.
I read a study that said being hungry/ignorant actually makes you less of an @$$O for taking what doesn’t belong to you.
Here is the link: A Case for Ignorance Lessening A*hole characterizations
Sagey. I heart you today.
That is all.
+1
I ain’t seein that, like Stevie Wonder. Forget analyzing and justifying why a person would forcibly take stuff from me. “Looting on principle”* doesn’t happen out of need, it’s an act of agression due to misplaced blame, to spite a person you assume is the enemy. People who actually want to improve their situation organize and execute a plan (Civil Rights Movement).
*I distinguish this from need based looting, which often happens when things are left abandoned and no one is attacked or harmed in the process.
I can understand why some people would have negative feelings about gentrification; many of the people I grew up w/in my old neighborhood were apart of families who had generations that were born in Cabrini Green, so to be told you had to find somewhere else to go, it’s like “Where do I go from here?” For most, that neighborhood was all they knew and had come to love, even w/all of the negativity that occurred. I too loved my hood, but I also knew that it was time to move on and start anew elsewhere because even though there were few who wanted to change Cabrini imto something they could be proud of, not enough were willing to make the sacrifices needed, or they just didn’t give a damn. While I do miss being around my friends, I am glad I am somewhere I can happily lay my head & proudly call home.
There seems to be quite a few connections to Cabrini Green at VSB. Who knew and sh*t?
We’re out here my friend *lol*.
Shameless self-promotion comment
Behind this Target is a mix of $200,000 lofts and Section 8 housing.
One of the reasons I have mixed feelings about gentrification: Some public housing was torn down, and the residents were told they would be replaced with low-cost housing. They were replaced with $200-300K townhomes, and the Section 8 never materialized. I’m all for diversity, but I get skeptical about the govt driving the poor out of the city
“I’m all for diversity, but I get skeptical about the govt driving the poor out of the city”
That’s my biggest issue with gentrification. I’m all for fixing up neighborhoods, but there has to a be a way to help the residents who have grown up there. Instead many are pushed out of the city. I grew up in NY and have lived in DC and Seattle and have seen major changes to all 3. Home prices have risen dramatically and forced a lot of the black population out of the city. These are families who have lived there for generations and to be pushed out of your neighborhood is a tragedy. There needs to be a better way….
@ I am your people
You can chalk the Section 8 housing not showing up on an election cycle and city fiscal shortages.
If it takes gentrification to eliminate the terrorists-without-a-cause who gun down eachother and innocent bystanders, and to get neighborhood businesses who bother to mop the floors and keep shelves stocked then all hail gentrification. I live in Roxbury, MA. Dudley Square is a mess. We need a Trader Joe’s. Just because I’m black and proud doesn’t mean I have to embrace living in some bull-ish cut rate environment where people don’t give a crap. I will be moving soon, with a new salary, so I’m happy about that.
Call me an Uncle Tom, that’s cool. Uncle Rickus will always be the bigger problem.
Regarding the police, the police don’t only protect white people, they protect cooperative citizens. Police can be genuine a-holes, but one’s own attitude towards many of them works wonders in many cases. Plus, friendships forged with good officers can come in handy when one a-hole officer acts up. Unfortunately, many black people have adopted an antagonistic approach instead of a pragmatic one when it comes to police.
*Uncle Ruckus
about 15 years ago, my mom’s cousin moved into a brand new, affluent sub-division called White Haven. The white people basically vanished, and everyone jokes that it should be called Black Haven.
@ I Am Your People
I’m not surprised. When will Black folks create their own neighborhood. The solid neighborhoods here in Detroit are solid because the homeowners didn’t leave and they have community organizations. Having a decent paying job also played a major role in this too. The thing is that they didn’t let the riff raff tear the whole neighborhood down. They united.
That is what missing in our neighborhoods…UNITY
lol..sounds like Memphis…
and if it is..i remember when Cordova was new and poppin…
i found out the other day they now call it the Dirty ‘Dova….
smh
Hickory Hood anyone….?
Up near the top, an individual took exception to your ambivalence. That individual was hastily castigated by others without even the perfunctory glance into their truest reasons for what was shared.
Everybody here should have had some sort of interaction with the process of gentrification. However, to say it touched us all the same is wildly inaccurate.
You know me and my parallels, right? Here is a doozy for you all. Feel Free to disagree.
Misinformation is of a strong presence in our minds these days. Instead of harshly critiquing one another, we would do so much better by exhibiting a matured sense of patience and understanding. However riveting it may be to unload & unleash like Sisqo, these sn’s are connected to real people who have real feelings and want to improve in a real way. Help not hurt.
(P.S. I know this looks like a mood swing…but an addiction has relapses. I’m formerly addicted to passionate exchanges of rhetoric & Urban lore). Who want what?
The parallel was that much like ambivalent acquiescence to gentrification(maybe even a silent or not so silent vote in the favor of), the act of rebuking a person that is sharing their opinion(however naive) is along the same lines of elitism. Elitism, which by no means actually equates to being better, is just another way of acknowledging a class system. If being higher on the caste is what gives you joy in life, then perhaps your joy wasn’t worth all you sacrificed.
Maybe what I say is new agey. What matters is that it follows specific rules of engagement. Nothing negative especially when speaking directly to another. Constructive criticism inspires people to feel good despite the illustration of flaw. Lecture over.
@Sagey Bear
“The parallel was that much like ambivalent acquiescence to gentrification(maybe even a silent or not so silent vote in the favor of), the act of rebuking a person that is sharing their opinion(however naive) is along the same lines of elitism. Elitism, which by no means actually equates to being better, is just another way of acknowledging a class system. If being higher on the caste is what gives you joy in life, then perhaps your joy wasn’t worth all you sacrificed.”
Cosign 100%. it’s not new agey what your saying. It’s having an empathetic universal view. This reminds me of a guy I knew that was bragging about how gravy the economy was and how things were great when the recession started in 2008-09 because he still had a job while our friends were getting laid off all over the place.
@Sagey Bear
“Misinformation is of a strong presence in our minds these days. Instead of harshly critiquing one another, we would do so much better by exhibiting a matured sense of patience and understanding. However riveting it may be to unload & unleash like Sisqo, these sn’s are connected to real people who have real feelings and want to improve in a real way. Help not hurt.”
Cosign.
All of this….cosign!
My experience with gentrification has been limited since most places I have lived have already been gentrified way before I got there. But having an objective mindset to it I think makes all of the difference.
I just realized that since I did not explicitly state that gentrification wasn’t the issue but another proverbial carrot dangled in the faces of those who do not quite have the means to attain that level of comfort.
Is that anybody else’s problem? No…but if I cannot eat comfortably, I’d blame everyone else too. Especially if I have little to no reason to be in the know.
It ain’t like I’m saying anything that matters to anybody that already loves, enjoys and appreciates gentrified thangs. I am saying that when you are living in your happy days, smiling and going about your business, remember that it is indifferent attitudes that inspire such violence and IJDGAF lifestyles like the ones thugs improvise. If you aren’t part of the solution….finish that thought.
That “rent and roll homie” track on the layaway dubs site is kinda good. Not gonna lie.
Sadly, this is why I quit teaching a class about rebuilding inner city neighborhoods because apparently, nobody gives a f**k anymore. We are the only group of people who no longer have a community to create our own jobs, educational and cultural institutions, etc…Maybe if more people actually cared, our bad stats (high unemployment, dropout rate, incarceration, etc…) would no longer be a problem.
I’d take your class. It is very unsettling to me that some of my peers don’t give two sh*ts about community improvement. I’ve noticed that a lot of people graduate with dreams of helping rebuild their communities but seem to lose sight of that dream as they age.
@DJ
” Sadly, this is why I quit teaching a class about rebuilding inner city neighborhoods because apparently, nobody gives a f**k anymore. We are the only group of people who no longer have a community to create our own jobs, educational and cultural institutions, etc…Maybe if more people actually cared, our bad stats (high unemployment, dropout rate, incarceration, etc…) would no longer be a problem.”
That’s not true. I wanna sign up tomorrow! Real talk, that’s exactly the type of class I’d be willing to spend my hard-earned (and hard to get the opportunity to earn) money on right now! I see why you say that though, there’s a lot of evidence that black folks don’t care, but it’s mores because most of them are confused, frustrated, and feel hopeless. Each one teach one. But I agree with everybody saying that the basic element that’s missing is the sense of unity and community despite class.
So sad, I swear it breaks my heart. I am involved in the design and transformation of Anacostia, SE DC. Within the next decade Anacostia would be the new Georgetown. So sad, I swear it breaks my heart. I am involved in the design and transformation of Anacostia, SE DC. Within the next decade Anacostia would be the new Georgetown. At the moment this section of DC has the cleanest, lead free water in the district. Majority of the people working on this project are the Spanish/Portuguese folks. Around lunchtime when these folks are taking their lunch, you would see grown ass brothas (between 15 to 50yrs old) coming out of the house – some working out, drinking or cleaning their rims. Until we change our attitude towards life, our generation is doomed. Education is necessary but not the key. I know a whole lot of dumb mofos with Advanced degrees living check to check. The key is to have a GOAL. A goal oriented brotha is “their” worst nightmare.
To go into the entire thing would take way too long, but in brief, I am disgusted with the entire attitude on display here by Champ and a sizable group of commenters. To think, this is posted on a relationship blog where many times, the topic of conversation is the shortage of “good black men”. It boggles my mind how many don’t trace their current misfortune to their own actions! You all remind me of some stereotype of self-satisfied, bougie negroes, settling for convenience at the expense of real, living, breathing people that look like you. Those neighborhoods in the city, being replaced by ridiculous restaurants and chain stores, had real families and people in them that at some point were pushed out by an entire ethos designed against them, the most visible of which being the majority of frothing trend-humping yuppie hipsters that bought the property from greedy developers at ridiculously inflated prices.
I didn’t want to go into it too much, but we can skim the surface for just one brief argument. For starters the drug-dealing and crime didn’t get to these neighborhoods by accident, Google Gary Webb for info on how cocaine got shuffled through San Fran during Iran-Contra by the CIA and notice how the worst crime cities except for one, happen to either be, or be near, port cities. New Orleans, Baltimore, New York, L.A., Newark, Oakland, Miami, DC. Before that though, take a look at how our community leaders and organizations were systematically destroyed through the FBI’s COINTELPRO (which is wikipedia searchable, Huey Newton, Malcolm X, MLK, all had files and operations against them) to make people susceptible to killing over, using, and coveting narcotics. Couple that with the idea that schools and home prices are certainly correlated, with a causal relationship being strongly suggested: http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/10/05/Chiodo.pdf , and now all of the sudden gentrification doesn’t seem so harmless anymore. This stuff may not be a conspiracy (I know I sound pretty nutty right now, but read the stuff I posted) or even centrally planned but it certainly is surprisingly systematic and eerily efficient, is it not?
The easiest way to keep wealth from pooling is to constantly keep it moving, because once any sizable population gets hold of an area and are able to set up a base of operations, they flourish. If you disagree with me, examine the myriad of examples in most immigrant groups and their particular hold on geographic areas (why do you think little italy, china town, jewish ghettoes, little vietnam, etc. all exist). Do you think they would’ve done so well if they were systematically driven out of their homes every 10 years at the whims of white people? But this just scratches the surface, at 25-40% unemployment (and 10-16% before then) how many black people can honestly afford to buy homes, even at deflated prices? I mean don’t get me wrong, in some cases, we certainly are to blame, but the idea that if we would just stop buying rims, cars, and tennis shoes like n*ggas, we’d be ok, is some of the most Clarence Thomas channeling bullsh*t I have ever had the pleasure of dry heaving to.
All that to say It’s easy to hide behind your individual modicum of success and dismiss those not as fortunate under the guise of convenience (I like Starbux next to my house), safety (I don’t wanna live next to a crack house), or merit (I went to school and did such and such, I deserve a nice place to live) but find yourself ambivalent about such things and not only do you invite the LA/London riots into your back yard, but you do a major disservice to brown people everywhere as well as the “struggle”. It’s all linked, it’s all connected and we would all be in much better shape if we never forgot this lesson: I am, because we are. Sorry for being so preachy and so long winded, but this is an important topic to me.
I see where you’re coming from, but it’s a bit more complicated than you make it seem. First, in order for a scheme to control people to work, the people have to acquiesce to it. I’m not denying that COINTELPRO and the CIA didn’t do anything. However, notice how some groups made it out of that era in one piece and some didn’t. Unfortunately, so few of our cultural institutions are built to last, the resulting instability makes the community weaker as a whole. Think about it for a second. Why do you think the Feds were able to label Black communities “unstable”? They weren’t stupid in saying that. When you don’t build legacies, chaos happens.
Second, the reason that those Dubs and kicks are bad isn’t necessarily the purchase as much as the mindset behind it. Poor people, not just Black folk but of any ethnic background, tend to think about what they need to do to keep themselves alive, and derive pleasure from whatever easy thrills they can get that day. They don’t think about how to make it so you can eat tomorrow or have something to leave to your child because that’s all they know. Now, it is incumbent on Black people of means to teach our own how to build something for the future, if only for our own survival. However, sturges, or the love of the familiar, is a hell of a drug. That dude in the hood is so attached to just doing what they need to do that day to survive that it’s going to be a radical change to think about the big picture. Unfortunately, people fight changes in routine bitterly, and no matter how hard you try, there are always going to be those people holding on to their old ways until the bitter end. (Hell, it’s this mindset that help immigrants win in the US. It’s not like those groups don’t have fools. It’s just that the fools within them never think to move to the US so they can build something better.)
I understand that bougie ninjas can get seduced by Panera and Trader Joe’s. However, you need to remember that Pookie and Shankia are just as seduced by the Crown Friend and Associated in their hoods.
“I understand that bougie ninjas can get seduced by Panera and Trader Joe’s. However, you need to remember that Pookie and Shankia are just as seduced by the Crown Friend and Associated in their hoods.”
Amen.
@NomadaNare: Yes, and thank you, thank you thank for taking the time to shed more light for folks.
@Todd: You lost me at, “First, in order for a scheme to control people to work, the people have to acquiesce to it.” The best systems work so well you have no idea they are operating. The chilling thing about this post is ambivalence. It scares me that people are lulled into a half-awake dream of life by convenience.
I’m sorry, but self-defense is just a part of being human. If we can’t figure that out, we’re doomed anyway, so who cares?
Wouldn’t a viable solution (or start to a solution) for the problems you just mentioned be fore black people to have more access property and start businesses? Isn’t possible for black and brown people to benefit from community development as well? Like I mentioned below, what is the alternative? That’s not a baiting question; if propoerty in crumbling neighborhoods is not purchased by people who will create business and upgrade the real estate, what should be done in those neighborhoods?
+1
Somewhere upstream (I think), I said many of us lost the platform we had (or our parents could have had) because we did not want to go into the family business if our parents owned one.
Had some of our parents looked at the family business like we are learning to look at homes, we could have taken that knuckle head off the block and given him a job, pooled financial resources to open another mom & pop in another nderserved neighborhood, or sold the business and taken the money to start another business that better served the community.
The only family business that ever seems to go from generation to generation is funeral homes. I guess people are dying to get in.
That, and people will always need to consult a funeral home. Too morbid of a job for me, but it’s a business that will never run out.
Yes, access to property is a step in the right direction (of course some will say “everybody already has access to property, because they’ll pretend that all the minimum wage earning women with two children can still afford nice homes, sigh) but I think the start is psychological. I remember seeing a documentary and I can’t for the life of me remember the name of it (dayum, I’ll keep looking) that was a great example of the mental aspect to the culture of poverty… but in my own words:
Even when an opportunity is presented to you, you have to be able to:
1) understand it- meaning the process, like maybe the process of buying a home – which is basically the easy part…
2) believe in the value of it… again, can be a taught, a little harder, but still…
3) believe in your _own_ value enough to know you deserve it and should want it. HARD.
4) trust somebody else to help you after most people who have come along haven’t been helpful. HARD.
So, IMO, we start with _people_ … self worth… and go from there.
@ Chunk
“Yes, access to property is a step in the right direction (of course some will say “everybody already has access to property, because they’ll pretend that all the minimum wage earning women with two children can still afford nice homes”
There are programs out there that do this but they are drying up fast. I co-sign 100% with you but I also think we are lazy and will not seek the information out until it’s a problem. Case in point
When I lived in NC, I used to work on a program that relocated houses that were in the 100 year flood plain that were not damaged and move them to lots outside of the 100 year flood plain. The houses were refurbished (AC, insulation, wiring, etc.) and priced at $80K. Fannie Mae had a program for low income families that would put a up a significant portion of the down payment; it worked out that the monthly payments would be slightly more than what people were paying in public housing. I used to bring people in to inform them about the project. I would go door to door in the hood and tell them about the program and when I was holding the next info session. I could coun’t on one hand how many times I had more than three people at a session!!!! The only other time I would be approached is when someone was about to be kicked out of their place then they would inquire about the program.
Exactly what I was saying in my comment above yours. It’s more than just access…
Excellent points to bring up!
Thank you for your comments! I totally agree.
*slow clap*
To think, this is posted on a relationship blog where many times, the topic of conversation is the shortage of “good black men”.
Are “good black men” poor? They can’t afford those neighborhoods?
**lives in walking distance of TJ’s, Whole Foods & Lucky’s, 2 gyms, a few decent restaurants… also, loves cupcakes**
Beats having to drive to the next city just to buy groceries (which is what my mom had to do when I was growing up). When it happens in places that were formerly dangerous, it IS weird seeing brand new folks exist there w/o a care. I’m glad to see the criminals go, but it hurts good people stuck in those areas who just can’t afford to do any better. What do you do? I have no idea…
I live within walking distance of a supermarket, a Target, and a cupcake place myself. Except that cupcake place is specifically for vegan cupcakes, which I tried and thus determined I do not like. Will gladly trek to Georgetown for my beloved cupcakes. I was a patron of that place before the TV show!
When it comes to social engineering to fix broken urban communities in the U.S. there seems to be only two options. Options 1. is to turn a couple of abandoned lots into community gardens, impose a curfew, temporarily increase police presence (and aggressiveness), put up some street lights, and spend the remaining half of the $2,000 “operation hope” budget on T-shirts and gingersnaps for press conferences. I like to call this the sprinkling glitter on a turd option.
The 2nd more sustainable option raises property values, forces out the local thugs and replaces them with franchised tax paying ones (shout out to Coldstone), puts money in school coffers, and reverses the trend of the tax base leaving the cities, which is where most black people live. Can you guess what it is? The G word.
I’m not saying gentrification is without faults or victims, but it is the lesser of the two evils by a wide margin and probably benefits people of color 28.2673% as much as it does white people. I know its not the most equitable split, but anytime people of color get to share in the gravy WITH white people as opposed to that gravy coming at their expense then it’s a Happy thanksgiving indeed.
Also, I’m pretty sure we could pull out of Afghanistan within a year with two Apple stores, 7 Starbucks and a Trader Joe’s. Better than using RPGs and machine guns to “win hearts and minds”.
Anytime people of color get to share in the gravy WITH white people as opposed to that gravy coming at their expense then it’s a Happy Thanksgiving indeed.
This is the same reason why, once Apartheid ended, South Africa, the African country with the most White people, became the most politically stable country on the continent.
“I like to call this the sprinkling glitter on a turd option”
So on point with this one. You forgot the new paint job on the old crack house, and Christening as the new underbudgeted and under supported Ra Um Nefer Imhotep Community Center. What breaks my heart more than gentrification is this farce of a neighborhood improvement type stuff…failing to understand that you really have to dig deep to make real and lasting changes. Change isn’t always comfortable and cute.
Someone once told me economic power was nothing without political power. In most cases, both were stripped out of the communities when our gandparents died. Our parents did not want to run the family businesses, we were often told get your education and dont’t come back, and often we don’t attend the same church we attended as children a.k.a the political base.
Those who have the economic power and are of color must choose wisely where to invest their dollars because unlike Donald Trump, second chances to secure additonal funds don’t come easy.
Being new to the ‘Burgh, I must admit I do travel down to East Liberty to shop at Trader Joes to buy my maple walnut cereal and almond milk. However, I wish I could show my boys what the old Hill District looked like back in the PBS specials we watched ironically before we moved to Pittsburgh or show them where Josh Gibson belted his many home runs. I guess I can’t have it both ways.
Champ,
Let me tell you..I had not been home for a grip. The passing of my father was the reason why I finally went home. I went to East Liberty (damn that Bakery Square shit) and I was like WTF is this? It has changed for the better down there I must say. Give them 5 more years and they are gonna clean up Homewood too. What’s gonna happen is they will buy the property for dirt cheap, revitalize the neighborhood, and ship the brown people out to places where the damn bus doesn’t run. It happened here in DC and its going to happen there too I be.
*SN* I don’t give a damn how many Trader Joe’s, Nanette Lapore’s, and other fancy ish they put up its still East Liberty to me and I don’t appreciate the city trying to use Jedi mind tricks on folks!
“What’s gonna happen is they will buy the property for dirt cheap, revitalize the neighborhood, and ship the brown people out to places where the damn bus doesn’t run.”
Exactly. And what’s sad, too, is that poor people will confuse that move to the suburbs with progress because they don’t know any better. And then when they get out there, they realize dayum, I can’t get *anywhere* and there are fewer jobs to be had out here, and it will be too late. That’s what happened in my hood.
This has happened with my hood as well.
I remember when I was very little and briefly stayed with my stepfather and sisters in Maywood; a beautiful, quiet suburb of Chicago.
Like many burbs, it is completely unrecognizable now due to gentrification of the city. When I was working to get up out of the projects, I listened and payed attention and knew enough not to let them ship out to the boondocks with promises of a better life.
TAC, I agree with you… I paid more attention than usual to these types of things…
…but what I also know is that for most of my life I’ve felt like an anomaly when it comes to being able to have one foot firmly where I was and the other foot where I was going…
…for every 1 person who can see further than “it’s nicer out there,” there are 10 who do not have (have not been taught) the critical thinking skills necessary to ponder such details… it’s so easy to say “they should know better, because I knew better.” Unfortunately, IMO, it aint that simple.
I agree. None of this is simple.
@chunk:
I do agree none of this is simple; however, as I see it, whether one agrees with me or not, there are a few steps “we” can take get ahead. Not that bullish “If ppl just pulled themselves by their bootstrap, they wouldn’t be poor ish”, but active steps to change mindset which to me can impact culture. And granted, none of this is easy if all you see day in/day out are crabs trying to get whatever, whenever, but you have to WANT better and that desire can’t be taught.
1) realize who you’re having babies with….some parents nowadays don’t appear to give two ishs about their kids, let alone teaching them basic life skills (and critical thinking is one such skill);
2) realize that mu_phukrs in those videos glamorizing ish (cars, money, heaux) that ish ain’t real, but if you don’t have strong parental/mentoring influences to teach you reality from fantasy, you are possibly doomed;
3) realize status, and living to floss, does not make for a great retirement plan. Someone up thread mentioned dudes on the block are only living for what they can get/enjoy today….cut that ish out (it’s not like you’re jacked someone for a ham sammy for your shorties or your mama). Again, people in your life who hold you accountable and call you on your ish are a godsend;
4) go outside your 4 block radius…the world is huge, go explore; you don’t need money to read books to learn about far away lands. I have a few ppl who refuse to even venture outside the Southside into Downtown Chicago b/c “Downtown is for white folks” – FOH!! Expand your mind.;
5) appreciate delayed gratification….just b/c you see someone with something doesn’t mean you can’t have it, it means you can’t have it right now if you can’t afford it;
6) decipher needs from wants (see #3 & #5);
Now I don’t claim any, or all, of the items mentioned above will cure our community instantly, but dammit, some of this ish is basic common sense. But as my Nana used to say, if common sense were so common, you’d be able to buy it on the grocery store shelf. *sigh*
I agree. Especially with 4 & 5. I listed a few steps, earlier, farther down.
But I disagree that you can’t teach someone to _want_ better… you certainly can:
Give someone a rotten strawberry to eat everyday- eventually, they’ll get used to it. Then, start giving them a fresh, in season, one instead everyday.
Then try to get them to go back.
They don’t want that sh*t.
You just taught them to WANT better.
That is a GREAT analogy.
Thanks for the food for thought (no pun intended). Hadn’t look at it from that perspective.
That analogy works until they learn that uppity/white folks like fresh strawberries, then they go back to the rotten ones on principle, because strong people can deal with rotten strawberries.
You can’t convince people to want better if they demonize “better” and their pride gets in the way.
“Gentrification sucks, until it doesn’t.”
Very true. LOL!
I’ll say this…if you were born and raised in DC, or at least lived here for the past 15 years, then you probably were as wide-eyed as I was when you saw the changes that overtook Columbia Heights. Or when white folks were walking down H Street. Or when you stepped off the Waterfront Metro and saw that the Waterside Mall was gone and the Safeway had gotten a makeover.
I’ll be honest, I’m taking advantage. I just moved into the Columbia Heights area not too long ago, and yes, I do enjoy the walking distance to Target. I do enjoy that I can walk in my neighborhood and feel safer. If you remember, Columbia Heights/Cardozo/U Street weren’t always the best places to be. Now it’s not so bad anymore.
What I DO miss, though, are the local joints that keep leaving. The places I grew up with. And maybe that’s the thing, I’m holding on to my childhood in some sort of way. But d*mmit, if I head down H Street and see that Horace & Dickie’s is gone, I’m gonna have a screaming fit (even though its appearance on “Man vs. Food” helped boost it somewhat, just like folks started giving more of a damn about Ben’s Chili Bowl after Obama ate there).
Even though we talk about displacement, those of us who are still here can’t say they don’t appreciate how much safer the areas are that have been gentrified.
Oh, and I love Trader Joe’s. I recently tried their tea tree tingle conditioner. I am in love. I want to try their Nourish conditioner, too. someday.
I’m from DC and it has definitely changed a lot. I agree with you here. I’m still on the fence about gentrification, but after living in Baltimore for 5 years and seeing a damn liquor store, fried chicken joint and beauty supply store on every block, I’m ready for some Trader Joes and 2520′s walking their dog(not a pit or rott) just so I can feel somewhat safe. As far as DC, and gentrification, it seems like more of the character and charm that’s leaving the city and what made DC chocolate city. Now it’s more like chocolate swirl sprinkled with cinnamon
I like that the city is safer, I like fresh vegetables in the grocery store, I like Target, I like the Circulator, I like that Chinatown doesn’t look like a slum anymore. I don’t like that economic disparities are being disregarded. I don’t like that folks are acting like gentrification is just a coffee shop and less crime. It breaks up long standing communities that weren’t just violent and hood. It breaks up one of the few places that black folks still have a lot of influence. All the blame isn’t to be placed on one group, but I can’t agree that it’s totally positive and that folks shouldn’t care.
It’s not that I don’t care. Because I do. But I’m not gonna act like every change is bad change. What I’m seeing more of in D.C. is that the neighborhoods being gentrified are 98% neighborhoods I myself wasn’t even allowed in at one point. I remember there was a time where Shaw, Most of Columbia Heights, and anything Georgia was prohibited. There were communities there, but there was also disarray. If the communities cared, little was done. And many residents in these communities were easily bought out of their neighborhood, took the money and headed right into PG County. Sadly, the crime followed.
The not caring part wasn’t directed towards you. It was a general response that I didn’t separate out to a lot of the comments on here. I can’t agree that the neighborhoods being gentrified are all places that were terrible communities. People that were long time renters or homeowners have not been able to afford the jump in property taxes or the increased rent. Doesn’t mean that it was outright looting and ish. Also, small businesses that had leases were unable to compete with being priced out. Our neighborhood store and community garden were torn down for condos.
I am quite torn on the issue of gentrification.
Personally, I can benefit from gentrification (for all the reasons already stated in above posts), but the activist in me cringes at the thought that so many underprivileged people were displaced so that I could live in convenience.
With that being said, I am from the ‘hood. Born and bred. Actually, before I jump into that, let me give you a background on my family…my granny and grandpa PURCHASED the family house back in ’56 when there were only 2-3 other Black families on the block. They wanted better for their children and their future grandchildren. We still own that house. In fact, that is the house that I grew up in.
Now, since I grew up in that area that was very nice when my grandparents moved in, pretty decent as my mother was coming of age, but turned crappy during my childhood, I do believe I can give a clear opinion on “poor people” and their mentalities. For years I saw the way my neighbors didn’t keep up their yards, but somehow always had enough money to afford to soup up their cars or buy their kids the new pair of Jordans, argue/fight in the middle of the street at 1 am to the point the police are called, use their cars as radios for the entire neighborhood, let their babies run up and down the street in diapers, think it’s cool to snub education and opt for the life of a criminal (actual conversations I’ve had with people I grew up with), etc etc. It’s nice to blame the system for the lack of education, safety, businesses in the underprivileged communities, but when will we begin taking accountability for our actions and passive behavior towards our situation? Nothing makes me more upset than a bunch of people who sit around and complain while not doing anything to resolve the situation. Oh, I know what does, the people who make excuses for those people.
Pride begins on the inside. It takes nothing to pick up a lawn mower and cut your front, back, and side lawn, call someone to paint your house or fix your roof, to show the community at large that you do care about where you live. It’s a sad day when I look at the block on which I grew up and see 3 vacant lots where houses used to be, and several houses that are boarded up and haven’t been inhabited for years, and know that those past dwellers let it happen, and didn’t care about the value of the neighborhood.
So why shouldn’t politicians and land developers get in bed together to decide to “develop” those neighborhoods? It’s obvious that the majority of the people in them don’t care enough to keep it up. Further up someone asked why certain areas of NYC exist and haven’t been gentrified. The answer is simple. Pride, and that’s what we’re lacking. The only tears I cry are for those who are like my granny, my family, and other families who make an attempt every day to take pride in their neighborhoods, just to see them torn down because of individuals who did not care.
As someone who lived in the slums at one point, I get where you’re coming from. I hated the neighborhood and the apartment, but we kept it clean. Mom figured that if we have to be here for at least this period of time, we’re gonna make the most of it.
What I’m also seeing, though, is that as more of “the others” move into the neighborhood, some of the residents who are already there are starting to take more pride into their own property, something they’d neglected before, and those who regularly took pride in their homes are breathing more of a sigh of relief for no longer being the odd men out. I guess the former is seeing how the new neighbors keep up their yards and make sure their porches are nice and clean and figured they weren’t going to be outdone and in the minority.
Alladis. Alladis. Yes.
I totally relate. All of it is exactly what I observed. Only difference is it was my great grandfather who bought and owned property. One of which he gave to my parents around time of my birth. In the hood. Back in the day when it was a decent place to live & then things changed. The poor people who cared and the poor people who didn’t who were going to destroy their neighbors’ property.
I am uncomfortable with pathology ing the poor under a banner of they can’t help it they’re uneducated and don’t know any better. Well I knew their parents, grandparents, siblings in the hood and they cared.
*pathologizing
I don’t have real opinion about gentification. I know there are several tax incentives for businesses that create jobs in low income areas. I also know that real estate revival can be hugely profitable. The part of the gentrification debate centered around loss of traditiona and generational property sounds a lot like a debate against change; which is obviously futile. It reminds me of the story I heard this weekend on NPR; short version: dude shut down a whole mining project and put people out of work because he didn’t want to sell the land (and the house he lived in, alone) that his family had owned for generations.
Additionally, I’m not sure what the alternative to gentrification is. Let cheap property lay untouched? This is unrealistic when we know real estate is one of the foundations of wealth in this country. Establish businesses without developing the surrounding neighborhoods correspondingly? Nothing will get built; I’m not going to open a store in a neighborhood where everyone is broke. Poor people have always had it rough. That’s why our parents told us to get our sh*t together and not be poor. That probably sounds nastier than I mean it. I guess I’m saying we can’t limit progress because we’re trying to take care of everybody. Additionally, I bet the revitalization of older neighborhoods hedges urban sprawl which is just as largely debated. Logistically we must have some of both which makes the argument moot I suppose.
We should applaud dude. In most cases like this back in the day, dude would end up missing, an “accidental” explosion would have taken place, or the city would declare emminent domain.
LOL, well those miners who lost their jobs were NOT applauding his a$$.
His price is his price. I’ve heard of ranchers in Texas that have land that businesses would like to wildcat on (look for oil). Since dudes are getting PAID by ranching cattle, the price they tend to ask for is such that these business folk balk and there’s not a thing they can do about it.
In terms of the big G, would we be mad at mom and pop store or applaud for doing the same thing if it meant mega mart (and it’s 100+ jobs) could not open?
He didn’t have a price. He just refused to move. The story was about his debate over whether he was making the right decision. He lost most of his friends and, as I mentioned, he lives alone and lamented the fact that he was very lonely there and he’s the only house left.
My thought was, move on. That land and that house will not be there forever no matter what he does- like he’s fighting for a sand castle. Additionally, I wouldn’t lose my quality of life to that extent to make a point.
I think he’s wrong because the whole community feels hurt. If the whole community was behind mom and pop, then there would be no controversy. If the whole community wanted mom and pop to GTFO then they should, LOL. They could easily make that happen with their wallets though.
If loving gentrification is wrong, I don’t wanna be right. I’m all about upgrades and don’t apologize for wanting and having nice things. My neighborhood is in an area that I describe as being “hood adjacent.” If you turn right when leaving my town house complex there is a most ratchet, dilapidated shopping center I’ve ever seen in my life. In an attempt to keep my Black card and to know what’s going on in my own back yard I walk my dogs passed the shopping center occasionally. One day I noticed that the Chinese Restaurant was selling fish plates, the dry cleaners was offering male sexual enhancements, and there was an ice cream truck in the parking lot selling……wait for it……area rugs and bedding! Mind you, this is the same shopping center where CVS and Subway (the only non-Mom and Pop merchants) close at 6:00 p.m –the same shopping center where remnants of police tape from the last shooting still hang from the street light poles. (Yeah, I’m still waiting for that episode of the First 48, the first episode filmed in my city was less than 3 miles away from my house.) If you travel east, you’ll find more hood stuff and followed by a nicer area (prominent churches, 1 Baptist, 1 Methodist, and 1 Presbyterian), a relatively new Subway that keeps regular hours, Walgreen’s, Rite Aid, and Baskin Robins/Dunkin Donuts. There is also a newly constructed shopping center that must have decent rent rates because three local businesses (a barber shop, tax place, and an athletic store that I’m convinced is drug front because they never have customers) from the more hood strip malls are now tenants. Don’t blink though, because after that it’s crack hotels, liquor marts, and dirty fast food places as far as the eye can see.
A little improvement goes a long way and I’m hopeful that the efforts will continue in my area. If it makes me a snob that I’m happy to see lesser melanin-complected individuals moving in then so be it. It’s not like Raymond and Ta’Sha’Quaneesha are trying to improve the community so I’m more than open-minded to hear what Bill and Samantha have to say.
This is a timely post for me, Champ. My fam’s lives a majority Black area of Memphis that doesn’t suffer from as much crime as other parts of the city, but could definitely use an upgrade. I’ve been wondering how to do that without residents having to move out. I plan to move back to this very area when I graduate, although I will be making a lotta money (mostly due to my aversion to suburban traffic). Does anyone have information on “self-gentrification” — things you can do to improve your own neighborhood? I’m thinking about starting a neighborhood association to watch for crime, start a community garden by the school park, cut older folks’ / abandoned homes’ yards and do regular cleanups. Should I just contact my city council member? I’m unsure how to “start” this. And what else can I do?
Another innocent question (as I know little about gentrification)- why is it a certainty that residents would have to move out? Aren’t projects like this often marketed with the promise of better and/or more abundant jobs?
because the cost of living rises — property values go up which means property taxes go up
it’s not a certainty that folks will move out tho. it just often happens. but poor communities have a high turnover rate (people constantly moving in and out). So people were gonna leave anyway; it’s just harder for others to move back in.
…or, they weren’t homeowners at all- they were renters… and now the rent is 3 times what was and they can no longer afford the neighborhood.
I feel guilty about not feeling bad about gentrification; however, I can’t feel bad about burned out buildings being transformed into million dollar homes. I can’t feel bad for children who used to look out of the window at chicks on the heaux stroll, now looking out of the window at a community garden. I can’t feel bad about dark, unsafe blocks being well lit, safe and welcoming. I know a number of people in Bed Stuy whose houses were worth next to nothing ten years ago but are now worth upwards of 700K. Are some folks being pushed out? Yeah. But are other black folks really on the come up as a result? Yes. I feel really conflicted about it all. I said I would never leave the hood, but when my son was born I felt like I had no choice. If my hood had been gentrified, I might not have left, but it wasn’t, so we did.
“…however, I can’t feel bad about burned out buildings being transformed into million dollar homes. I can’t feel bad for children who used to look out of the window at chicks on the heaux stroll, now looking out of the window at a community garden. I can’t feel bad about dark, unsafe blocks being well lit, safe and welcoming.”
I think the point is *that this shouldn’t be the case regardless of WHO lives there or how much money they have.* And most of those children you speak of are still seeing the same thing they were seeing before- they’re just seeing from a different street now.
As a long time D.C. area resident, I can tell you that I have mixed feelings. I’m all for urban renewal, my biggest inquiry is with how will the people who do all of the labor and services (firemen, policemen, retail sales, trades) afford to live there? With that comes the inconvenience since the more affordable homes are now further out in the older suburbs and requires longer commuting time (which adds extra expenses).
I guess I’ll have to wait and see how this all settles…change is happening and that is good, but I’m still giving a weary eye to it…
I can understand that. Point taken.
I am in the area as well. They usually provide public servants (police, firemen, teachers, etc) a lower cost on the house or condo. Say that the condo cost 400k for a one bedroom and there are 25 one bedrooms in the complex. Out of that 25, the city would have negotiated for say 5 to be priced at 300K. This is all a part of the negotiations that builders go through in order to receive building approval from the city. Also, public servants may be able to get lower interest rates or help on the closing costs that regular buyers couldn’t get.
In case you forgot your history, most of these neighborhoods were not ours to start with. We move in and turned them into ghettos and then went looking for the next “good neighboorhoods” we could destory. The only thing changes is that enough time passes by that we forgot the really was there first.
So true.
There’s a not so subtle implication going one here that the GOOD Negroes who spent their money right all their lives won’t be affected by gentrification and instead all the those n!ggers are going to be displaced. I’m pretty much disgusted at the majority of VSP today.
Not true. There’s just not enough of you to leverage any significant political or economic clout. It’s sad but you need some of them ninjas (for numerical / voting purposes only)
Please expound. If I move up the career ladder, and save and purchase a home, how will I be negatively impacted by gentrification? I’m genuinely interested.
No, people here are acting like there is some sort of clear and definitive line about who benefits and gets hurt by gentrification. The majority of people here are acting like only they benefit from gentrification because they’re good upstanding negroes, they’ll benefit from it and everyone else who isn’t one all bare the blame for the downfall of the black community and deserve to lose their homes and be pushed out into obscurity.
Everyone responds to incentives. If an incentive could be created / existed that would allow for the improvement of our communities and address the displacement of people for VIABLE housing / businesses I would love to be in that business.
I’m with Malik that there’s no clear winner or loser with gentrification; there are several external outcomes that the planner(s) may or may not have accounted for….some good and some bad.
I’m with Malik that there’s no clear winner or loser with gentrification; there are several external outcomes that the planner(s) may or may not have accounted for….some good and some bad.
Actually there are some very clear winners and losers. However, there are a lot of folks for whom the winning/losing is not as clear cut. Developers WIN BIG! Poor and disenfranchised folks LOSE BIG. That is a fact. Homeowners, community members, renters… well there’s a lot of winning and losing that can be experienced by these “in the middle” folks. That’s why its hard to choose a side when you are one of the folks in the middle.
I’m talking after we address the obvious. I’m talking things like increased traffic patterns, infrastructure utilization, etc.
Okay… we’re on the same page.
No matter one’s socioeconomic-economic status, a job loss can leave it difficult to afford to live in a gentrified neighborhood due to higher cost of rent. Divorce has led to lower incomes for households with children. Anyone can end up moving or moved out of a neighborhood that has been priced higher. Amongst friends, family, associates, I see this happening. It’s the people who have been accustomed to not being poor who are shellshocked when they can’t afford the cost of living without a job. People who have worked all their lives are shellshocked at not being able to find a job. Middle class folks I know are facing foreclosure in the suburbs. So I see the enjoyment of gentrification as potentially temporary for certain percentage if employees who could be laid off due to the economy. Anyone can become poor.
@ Carol,
Let’s say that you buy your parent’s brownstone or purchased in a “transitional neighborhood” with your new promotion and fat pay raise. You know the neighboors and you have a certain level of comfort and saftey because you know the inner workings of your community.
Now let’s assume that homeownership on your block is low because the owners don’t live in the houses and the brownstones have been chopped up into rental units and the owner is more concerned about a dollar than the quality of individual living in said unit. Instances of dead beat landlords tend to increase.
If the city has plans for your block that you don’t agree with, the homeowners don’t have the same leverage as they would in instances where the entire community owns the home they live in and are actively engaged in the communities politics.
The difference between yesteryear and today is that homeowners (black folk) voted in blocks (democrat for the most part) and in mass. Potential politicians would NEED to make the rounds in the churches and we would have serious questions about how he/she planned to represent our communities. Now we don’t participate as vigorously as we should. We don’t ask the tough questions before folks get into office.
So if the city agrees to rezone the block replace the meat market you loved for it fresh cuts and the dry cleaners with an office complex, a strip mall, and a parking lot are you better or worse off?
Hey VSBs & VSSs
I don’t want to hijack Champ’s very relevant post but I need some stranger opinions.
I am in a (very manageable) LDR and this past weekend I went to visit my dude after I hadn’t been there for a while. I was about to go into his bedroom (which he doesn’t sleep in) and he was like “What are you doing? That room is off limits”.
I stood there with my hand on the door knob with a stunned, quizzical look on my face. I have been going to his place for 3 yrs (before we even got together) and was never banned from any room. This sudden “off-limits” status has me perplexed, to say the least.
So before I jump to my starkly obvious conclusion, I’d like to find out from you very smart people, why do you think he would ban me from his bedroom? Could there be a legitimate reason (I didn’t ask for one and he didn’t offer one)? Is this a relationship-ending type thing? It’s certainly gonna be a game-changer. What should I do?
Let me add that I didn’t go into the room, even after he left me there alone. And I have never been rifling through his drawers and sh*t.
POSITIVE: He wants to surprise you with something. Like possibly a ring, something romantic, etc.
NEGATIVE: He doesn’t want to “surprise” you with something bad. His collection of porn, his mistress’ panties, black light visible stains from the party in his pants with Handgelina.
Regardless of if its positive or negative, you need to ask him whats up before you jump to conclusions. There could be anything running through his head at this time, and until you ask, you’ll never know.
Bingo. Don’t ask don’t tell is dead now.
@Life’s wanderer I agree don’t ask don’t tell is dead. But make sure you want the truthful answer. And make sure you ask in a way that says you’re ready to hear it, with no accusatory undertone, no hurt fragrance attached.
Frankly, I’m surprised at your surprise.
So, what exactly does he use his bedroom for if not for sleeping? You’ve been going to his house for three years, never been inside the bedroom (based on what you’ve told us) in all that time, and now just expect things to be different? There are a lot of open questions here for both you and him.
I HAVE been into the bedroom before. I’ve been all over the apartment. It only has 5 damn rooms. It’s where I “live” when I go to his city. There have NEVER been any space or privacy issues btwn us.
But all of a sudden, this past weekend I got the “off-limits” thing which is why I was surprised. And I’m more concerned because this happened after I hadn’t been there for a while. He’s been coming to see me for the past 2 months. So I’m wondering what the hell’s been going on at his place that I’m now all of a sudden banned from a room!
Or times are hard and he has a boarder. He could be sleeping on the sofa & boarder in the bedroom. Talk to your man. And observe his body language and how he answers to see if they match his words. And wait, the truth has a way of falling into your lap.
I think we forget that just because the unsavory folk aren’t around anymore that they somehow disappeared. Naw, they just went somewhere else, bothering different folks. And this isn’t likely to change until we change the mentality that the thug life is the good life. “Read a book, read a book, read a mother-effing book” and all that. I believe that you can’t help people who don’t help themselves, can’t change things for people who refuse to change. But it’s not easy, and even if you agree to cooperate, it doesn’t always work out. Eh, having grown up in the nicer part of the hood (funny how that whole go-three-blocks-in-any-direction-and-it’s-like-a-whole-’nother-world thing works, ain’t it?) maybe I don’t really have the authority to comment though.
On the flip side, am I the only one who finds it hilariously ironic that this must be, in a twisted sort of way, exactly how white folks felt when all the minorities started moving into their areas? “Ugh, honey, there go them whities again, try’na betterfy our neighborhood with their “Tar-jays” and Starbuckses and fitness centers…”
Let’s all face it gentrification has it’s good and bad…I am happy to see neighborhoods improve but at the same time sad to see that people are being pushed out…You can’t be mad at a property to want to get the maximum value they can for their property…but to be honest for the most part our people the renters really do not care for OPP…so it’s not a hard sell for an owner to rent to someone willing to pay more whether or not these new renters cause similar damage or not…the property owners come out on top…I grew up in brooklyn and I have seen a lot of change…people would call it gentrification but is it just our neighborhoods keeping up with the times?
There seems to be a major disconnect between black folks today and the gentrification argument does wonders in bringing it to light. As I read further upthread, there seems to be a undertone in alot of these arguments that says “I got mine, your better get yours, and if you don’t/didn’t then stfu.” All while failing to take into consideration that as hard as some of us think we had it, that there are folks that had/have to endure much worse coming up. To some people, getting what they can get for today IS what they have to look forward to because TODAY I need to feed my family and TODAY I need to figure out how to keep my lights on. Its easy to sit back and say what someone else SHOULD be doing while on the outside looking in.
Back in our grandparents day, it didn’t matter what your occupation was, from the highest revered positions(doctor, lawyer, etc) to the lowest(public service, menial jobs) you ALL lived in the same neighborhood because you were BLACK. You had no other choice. There was a collective effort to build the community because you didn’t have the option of doing otherwise or going anywhere else. This new access to things we otherwise had none to has made alot of black people’ noses just long enough to be able to look down on those who still have not.
How is a person who “has” to live in all black neighborhood because they have no other choice any less “elitist” than a person who has the option to live elsewhere?
I’m sure many of us acknowledge that people go through struggle, but it’s also important to realize that some people choose to stay put. As a former rebel/afrocentrist/uber-liberal, that second part was a hard pill to swallow, but in some cases that’s just how it is.
Some people just eventually come to realize that feeling guilty about exercising your power to improve your quality of life is essentially useless. Some folks might go as far as equating the folks who move on with power abusers, like slum lords and CEOs who actually abuse people. People who exercise their means to attain a peaceful and positive quality of life are not abusers and should not be shamed for moving onward and upward.
“There was a collective effort to build the community because you didn’t have the option of doing otherwise or going anywhere else. This new access to things we otherwise had none to has made alot of black people’ noses just long enough to be able to look down on those who still have not”.
The collective effort to build is what’s missing today. At the very least it is one of the major reasons why so many black communites are distressed. Too many with the drive and determination to do what it took to move on have done so, and those of us who decided to stay, along with the weaker, poorer and less educated, do not make up the kind of numbers to be highly politically or economically relevant. I believe that if the black professional class (BPC) were to return in significant numbers to predominantly black neighborhoods, it would have (or could have) the same effect as white gentrification. We know enough now about how the system works to make it work for our communities, but it will take larger populations of the BPC to help make that happen. Will there still be crime? Of course. But will it be on the same levels as now? No. Because with a return of the BPC, the mayors, police departments and city councils would know that they need to step up their game. With BPC money pooled within the community, developers and retailers would have to take note, and provide the goods and services that BPC and black middle class money demands. Lower income blacks would be motivated to do better, because they would be exposed to more / better.
Gentrification turns my stomach. It’s pretty to look at, but it costs way too much. Sadly, I don’t believe we have the collective resolve to make the tough sacrifices that any alternative (for revitalizing black urban communites) would require.
“I believe that if the black professional class (BPC) were to return in significant numbers to predominantly black neighborhoods, it would have (or could have) the same effect as white gentrification.”
Great point. Improving properties costs money and raises rent, period, and an outsider is going to be seen as an outsider regardless of race.
I don’t know but after reading the book “Our kind of people” i think this whole “black communities built each other up” thing is kind of a myth. Not saying that you couldn’t find it but the black doctors, lawyers, professors of the 50s may not have been able to move into white neighborhoods but they were sure able to move into elite black ones. This separation happened a LONG TIME before gentrification came about.
I haven’t read the book, so I don’t know to what extent it portrays the separation between the elite black professionals who chose to reside in exclusive enclaves and those who chose to remain in the mix, as it were.
What I do know from my own experience and from hearing stories from others who remember, is that all of the elites didn’t bail; there were professionals who stayed close to the community. Secondly, for the most part, small contractors, store owners and other small business owners are not elite (no shots being fired). They are ‘just’ hard working, motivated, savvy and determined professionals and entrepreneurs who choose to go into business and work for themselves. These business owners gave kids another example to aspire to besides the gang bangers and drug dealers. Also, having this mix of people of different economic levels living together made neighborhoods stronger, more stable and more cohesive. People held each other accountable for the health of the community, so extreme ratchetness was not lightly tolerated. Close knit black communities may be considered mythical nowadays, but they did exist….
@annette_b: I see your point. What I am saying is that people always want to point out how blacks ALWAYS stayed together to help each other and this wasn’t always the case. There were black professionals who moved to have and build their own communities and get away from the lower class blacks. The separation started happening way before whole foods or starbucks existed.
Wait, there are places to go in East Liberty now? ** SPOILER ALERT ** The last time I laid reign on the city with my big bro and a campus full of smart minority students, the only time we’d hit that area is if we needed hair products. Ok, specifically if I needed hair products. Because my Detroit arse needed hood hair products at the time (and still do, honestly).
Just saying, no disrespect. But yeah…they’re trying to gentrify Detroit. It’s not a bad thing honestly, I just think they’d doing it wrong.
Carry on.
I have to admit that while gentrification is certainly better than a crime-ridden and dysfunctional environment, one of the major down sides, IMO, is that the driving force is big chain businesses and over-priced cookie cutter housing developments. I’m a fan of local businesses with unique and high quality products and condos/apartments that have amenities that truly justify the sale price/ rent. A lot of gentrification is just a shiny plastic make-over with little underlying quality. Developing a neighborhood in which high-quality local businesses “of the people” peacefully coexist with chains that the people deem convenient (e.g., CVS) is a very hard thing to accomplish that requires a lot of capital and cooperation.
I was in Ft. Greene on Saturday for Deltnic and as my sister and I walked to the liquor store (to keep the party going) we passed a slew of new bars and boutiques, and a bunch of smedium sized restaurants serving Tex-Mex, Chinese and Vegan-whatever-the-hell that is. We kept commenting on how different the area was until we saw a family of homeless people sleeping at the bus stop. It was like ahhhh there goes the Ft. Greene that I know. If you’ve been to that area recently you know how it used to be and what it is becoming. When you define gentrification of NYC, and especially Brooklyn, you can post a picture of Ft. Greene and let that be the definition.
My friends and I all grew up in BK and we know how to live and survive in the hood. We’ve walked, partied, and
foughtour way through a few of the best and worst hoods in Brooklyn. When I first moved back to Bklyn after living in the South and I saw 2520′s getting off at Nostrand Ave I gagged. Where da hell were they going? They must be lost. But times and the area were a changing.As in all things there are pros and cons and gentrification is no different. I know a few people who are benefiting from the re-development of Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill area (and someone mentioned upthread about ENY..which is definitely changing, but at a much slower rate. I suppose it will pick it up if that Walmart ever gets built)
and I also know how that development is negatively affecting others especially with the housing market (hell when I started to look for an apt to I was absolutely disgusted at some of the prices for 1 bdrms and studios and not to even mention the 1+ years
long waiting list).
I don’t know that its even right to fight a positive change, as its been stated there are more beautifications taking place in the neighborhoods; better playgrounds, safer streets and just an air of calm without a storm of violence to follow. No one should be against the betterment of your neighborhood, but if you don’t like what its becoming or the positive history of it is becoming lost in the new Target or Trader Joes that is being built, become an active participant in those local and public meetings and voice your concerns. Do more in your neighborhood now, and it won’t become someone else’s later.
Awwww……I was at Deltnic. I wonder if you saw me?
I was standing with some Zetas and my nephew (the cutey in the brown stroller) on that statue thingy when the stepshow started. I was next to a really tall girl, it might have been you…
No. I was to the left of the statue (not on it) when the show started. You would have defiantly known it was me if you saw me!
Just in hearing everyone’s response and this reply in particular, it reveals to me that gentrification has evolved into a class issue just as much if not more than a racial issue. If you take the example of white flight in previous decades, that phenomenon was completely racial, however in this instance, as your post reveals, you can enjoy the benefits of gentrification without being the race of the predominant gentrifier(not sure if this is a word). So Anyone who can afford to live in these “renewed” neighborhoods can live there, with that being said, you can’t ignore the hundreds of years of history that will tell you who those people who can afford it will most likely be. So Until we as black folk are doing as well or better than white folk on the aggregate here in America (don’t hold ya breath), we do need to give a f$%k about gentrification. So with all of that being said fam, your post is either shamelessly ignorant or ahead of its time, maybe both.
I don’t mind gentrification but I have a beef with the city planners & investors of such “if they build it, they will come” mind set because they only seem to build for a profit to them, not the community.
Sections of South, North & West Philly are being changed with no thought of the needs of the new or old residents of the area. No youth centers, play grounds, rec buildings or open spaces but there’s plenty of stores to shop at. No schools, libraries or fire stations but I get a Starbucks on every corner.
That’s where we need to be more viligant. City planners must hold open forums to discuss proposed plans. I know that the method of notification is jacked up (page 55 of the news paper in small print, radio commercials (which we often channel surf), etc. Most of us often find out about these meetings after the news sticks a camera in front of old Mrs. Jenkins after the mean men come and tell her to pack. Emotions run high only to find out our window of opportunity was missed.
Ahh yes, I know all too well having grown up on the East End of Pittsburgh how its like night and day from what it used to be..
Although I moved away going on 7 years ago and haven’t really had an opportunity to fully take advantage of all the new shops and boughie sh*t and whatnot… i’m still glad to see developers taking an interest in the area and investing money to make a nicer. East Lib was a real sh*thole back in the day.. anyone that has anything negative to say about what they’ve done over there probably also still wears an afro with the pick with the fist on the end of it, believes the government put AIDS in the black community on purpose and thinks Jesse Jackson still has a shot at being president
Capitalism = Gentrification, plain and simple
Unfortunately I can’t stick around for this one which is a shame since I’ve spent a considerable, considerable amount of my education focused specifically on gentrification and the issues it raises, both good and bad.
And as somebody who’s lived in some extremely less than stellar circumstances in various cities in this nation to include Detroit and Atlanta (actually living on MLK…literally), some of these comments Ive read are extremely disheartening. I get the need to care about yours and yours only…been there. My first care is my family. But living in the hood also made me give a sh*t about my community and wanting it to do and be better. Not giving a f*ck what happens to ninjas as long as they aren’t in your backyard kind of defeats the purpose of community.
Now admittedly, that’s up to each individual. And I can’t judge anybody who feels that way. Your life trumps others, I feel that. Hell I feel that way too…but I also can’t help but want to HELP make things better while I’m still there. Plus, as a black male, you never really get away from your thugged out cousins unless you really get away. We’re never that far away.
So I don’t know, homes…I care a lot actually. It bothers me because I see people that look like me (well if I had more of a tan…jokes) losing constantly and very few peope that look like me being the recipients of the benefits. Sure, most of us here obviously have good jobs (or will) and will be able to reap some of those benefits of gentrificaiton and are happy as hell about it, but its not the circumstances of the majority of us. its more of the ninjas who have distancing themselves from the ninjas who ain’t got…which is becoming the biggest problem in our community. No judgement here, it just sucks is all.
Enjoy Starbucks ninjas.
“Not giving a f*ck what happens to ninjas as long as they aren’t in your backyard kind of defeats the purpose of community… its more of the ninjas who have distancing themselves from the ninjas who ain’t got…which is becoming the biggest problem in our community.”
Amen.
And what does one do if they’re the *only* one who “made it out?” Literally distance yourself from everyone and everything you knew and loved before you walked the ivy halls… oh wait, no, you visit on holidays and laugh (because otherwise you’ll cry) about the craziness they live in…
Sigh. My heart is breaking.
I concur and could go on and on about the effects of gentrifying just on the elderly alone, folk who have worked all their lives paid off their homes and now can’t afford to stay because of astronomical property taxes due to gentrification but their time is short anyway so it doesn’t matter right?
Well at least folk are honest, and as long as you got yours, phc*k the others who weren’t as fortunate, blessed with the right opportunities. SMH
We shouldn’t pretend that the distancing doesn’t happen both ways. I’ve been told on more than one occasion that while I seem to be a nice person, I don’t “belong” someplace because I have a good education, carry myself a certain way, and have a certain income. And I’m not even one of those folks who strut around adjusting my monocle, proclaiming “My worrrrd, you people should certainly consider improving your lot.” People in the hood don’t feel some sense of gratitude if you decide to stick around for their sake. Caring doesn’t make your neighbors care about you, especially if they are constantly looking for enemies to blame their problems on.
What Panama said. And what NomadaNare, Chunk, Chase and scant few others (sadly) said. We should all care. Especially when we have the privilege of success. It’s not about how hard any of us worked for it: No one knows another’s struggle. Not knowing is one thing.
For some “educated ninjas” as the VS community seems to be, it’s alarming to see the number of you who choose to ignore that gentrification is about ruining someone’s life. It just is. That’s what makes it different from just an upgrade. People lose.
And for those of you who are saying you’re proud to not care, wow.
To know about and actively denounce the idea of caring about another human’s life being negatively impacted…
Does indeed just suck.
Ambivalence is worse than ignorance.
What is positive to one may be negative to the other. It’s not being ambivalent. It is recognized that gentrification is going to hurt a group of people. Honestly, would we care if gentrification were hurting Hispanics, whites, or Asians. I think not. This post probably wouldn’t have even been written. It is hurting all groups of people and it is helping just as many.
@Mena: “What is positive to one may be negative to the other. It’s not being ambivalent. It is recognized that gentrification is going to hurt a group of people. Honestly, would we care if gentrification were hurting Hispanics, whites, or Asians. I think not. This post probably wouldn’t have even been written. It is hurting all groups of people and it is helping just as many.”
Champ’s post and a large portion of the thread are self-identified and factually defined as ambivalent. I am not. Where as an ethical and intelligent person one should stand on gentrification, is clear. Displacement of the poor is something universally, not circumstantially negative. That is what defines gentrification. It ain’t a pretty new store, roses, or clean streets. It is moving people with no means to a worse place. Ghandi was poor. Malcom X was a convicted felon. Frederick Douglass was illiterate and penniless. Before folks begin lumping the poor or disenfranchised in with urban decay to be scrubbed clean, remember we’re talking about human issues.
Not coffee or puppies.
Thank you for this.
Gentrifying isn’t necessarily displacing people who can no longer afford the area to other bad areas. Case in point, on NPR, there was a story about how housing that was closer to the metro (in DC) has done relatively better in the economic downturn than housing that is located in the suburbs. The story then went into gentrification and how there is still development in predominantly poorer areas (southeast DC, by the water and metro stops) which pushes these people out. However, some, not all, of these people decided to move out to PG county where you can buy a house for 300-400K that is twice (sometimes, depending on the area that you are comparing it to in DC, 3 to 4 times) bigger (and consequently nicer) than anything you could get in the city. Gentrification OFTEN displaces the poor but not always. And, as the NPR story explained (and this is one, yet small, example) it is pushing people into bigger homes and nicer communities…albeit with a horrible commute.
“Ghandi was poor. Malcom X was a convicted felon. Frederick Douglass was illiterate and penniless. Before folks begin lumping the poor or disenfranchised in with urban decay to be scrubbed clean, remember we’re talking about human issues.” You are doing what many politicians do: they take the few that made it and try to then make an example as to how we should treat everyone from that group. I get what you are trying to say but I never said in my previous statement that the poor are urban decay. What I did say is that “It is hurting all groups of people and it is helping just as many.” My whole point was that gentrification will hurt a group. Does it suck for the person/family that is being pushed out? Sure. Is it great for the family that can stay or the young couple that is looking for a place to settle down and raise a family? Absolutely. Gentrification has such a negative connotation connected to it when this just isn’t always the case. As many have said in the comments, gentrification is looked at differently when you consider the safety of the people you love and care about.
As for the ambivalent part, from the comments that i read you have some that care tremendously (like yourself), others who just could care less (like me), and others who have mixed feelings on the issue (ambivalence). Champ’s post and his comments (though there are some mixed feelings there), come across to me as him just really not caring about the negative impacts of gentrification. One can recognize two sides to an issue, understand both sides, and still be decisive on how they feel (granted, this is how I see the post).
“Where as an ethical and intelligent person one should stand on gentrification, is clear. Displacement of the poor is something universally, not circumstantially negative.” Seems like you climbed on top of your soap box on this one. Again, it depends on how you look at gentrification. You are looking at it as an absolute negative. I see both sides to “urban renewal”.
However, some, not all, of these people decided to move out to PG county where you can buy a house for 300-400K that is twice (sometimes, depending on the area that you are comparing it to in DC, 3 to 4 times) bigger (and consequently nicer) than anything you could get in the city. Gentrification OFTEN displaces the poor but not always. And, as the NPR story explained (and this is one, yet small, example) it is pushing people into bigger homes and nicer communities…albeit with a horrible commute.
i recognize this is a day late and a dollar short, but are you really implying that ninjas who could get pushed out could THEN afford to go into PG and just cop a 300-400k house that’s bigger than what they had…like they were just choosing to live in the hood and stacking cheddar? not to be a bad person, but that’s pretty asinine. i didnt hear the npr story, but to imply that the people who are getting pushed out due to gentrification are able to go buy a home in nicer areas (which is generally patently untrue) is pretty ridiculous and sounds like some non-sense that would be shoveled to individuals who were about to be pushed out or who were in danger.
you know what it sounds like…sh*t you say to old people before you put them in a home.
@Panama: If you read the last line of that paragraph “And, as the NPR story explained (and this is one, yet small, example) it is pushing people into bigger homes and nicer communities…albeit with a horrible commute.” I said that this is a small example. I know that this is not the case for the majority and nor did i ever say that it was. My point was simple. The person above my comment said that “It is moving people with no means to a worse place.” This is just simply not true for all.
My friend posted this article a few months back on their FB page:
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/mar/29/racial-shift/
“I think it is part of a trend, that is not unusual in this country, of people at a certain stage in their lives decide to move to the suburbs,” Keane said. “Larger yards, more affordable housing, easier parking — all the things that make the suburbs desirable for people.”
Excellent comment Panama! If people actually read the history and understood how we built communities after slavery and the hell we had to go through to maintain them, maybe people would have a better appreciation for what it really means and how much more beneficial it was to us individually and as a race. Gentrification is nothing to celebrate. It’s nothing more than a kinder, gentler form of urban renewal of the 50s and 60s (ask your grandparents or great-grandparents about that!)
I have worked in community economic development for both elite developers and government agencies, and I have witnessed more times than I care to acknowledge the mistreatment, displacement, and dismantling of neighborhoods of black people, both poor AND middle class. I have witnessed elderly people being uprooted and pushed out of the only homes and neighborhoods they have ever known, all for a new Target store and other nonsensical development projects. After years of my conscious eating away at me, I could not participate in the madness any longer.
Right now, we are straight up losing and the sad thing about it is that, we don’t have to be. We (as a race) allow too much nonsense to happen to us because not enough black people give a damn. Those who have the resources (financial, professional/skills, etc…) don’t care, and the ones who do care, don’t have the means or know-how to help. Individualism is ok to a degree, but if we are to really make some progress, we have to start think more collectively–poor, middle, and upper-class. Bottom line is that no one is coming to save us. We have to do it ourselves.
“Not giving a f*ck what happens to ninjas as long as they aren’t in your backyard kind of defeats the purpose of community… its more of the ninjas who have distancing themselves from the ninjas who ain’t got…which is becoming the biggest problem in our community.”
Amen.
And what does one do if they’re the *only* one who “made it out?” Literally distance yourself from everyone and everything you knew and loved before you walked the ivy halls… oh wait, no, you visit on holidays and laugh (because otherwise you’ll cry) about the craziness they live in…
Sigh. My heart is breaking.
That’s a great question, what DO you, as the one person who moved on? What can you realistically do? Undo your moving on and move back? Progress shamers love putting this out there but never propose anything practical to follow it up.
I personally have no problem whatsoever with gentrification. However, I do understand the argument about displacing the disadvantaged.
Here’s what needs to be done
Invest and have a vested interest in your communities
Tell the police who the drug dealers and murders are so they can get them off of the streets that your children play in.
Get back to being the village for our children
The problem with some communities as they exist prior to gentrifications is that for some people it becomes a way of life and that’s simply no way to live at all. I couldn’t phantom raising my child in a neighborhood where I was afraid to go outside and watch my son play.
@Mahogany Princess, you can’t be ok with gentrification but not ok with displacement. By definition they are one and the same.
gen·tri·fi·ca·tion noun \?jen-tr?-f?-?k?-sh?n\
Definition of GENTRIFICATION
: the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents
(Whispering) And I think you meant to say fathom, not phantom. Just lettin’ you know your slip was peeking sis’.
@ Tina if you will read my comment again I said I can understand the argument.
(Whispering back) Thanks for the catch but I’m sure you still understood what I was saying!
@ Mahogany Princess thanks for pointing that out. I read what I wanted to see: That you aren’t ok with displacing the disadvantaged. Saying you understand the argument doesn’t clarify whether you agree with it per se.
You’re welcome and yes, I understood that part loud and clear.
Busy at work and I am late… But I do care. I care and I’m disgusted that the very idea that the neighborhood can only be revitalized when someone else moves in. That is beyond foul to me. No one wants to live in a terrible place. No one. But the elitism and classicism is a very big problem for me. Folks of color like Starbucks, Whole Foods, and quality goods and services. Folks of color want good schools and home ownership. Folks or every demographic want to live well and in peace. To have to leave your neighborhood to get a semblance of quality of life or only receive it because the ethnic population of that neighborhood is changing is foul. It bothers me that folks get out priced and can’t afford to live because some with means have taken away all they knew.
Let’s make it clear: neighborhood revitalization in which a neighborhood is improved with the residents in mind as a partnership and all are living well is good. Gentrification in which only the wealthy can live well is wrong, wrong, wrong.
No easy answers, but I’m loving the passion and intelligence shown in these posts. I have lived in Harlem since the late 90s and I have witnessed gentrification in all its glory.
Parts I definitely appreciate: the new restaurants along Frederick Douglass Blvd. (many of them black-owned), the greater availability of gyms, the bodega across the street even upping its game and selling dairy that is no longer spoiled due to a poorly working refrigeration system (true story. no exaggeration).
There have also been things I haven’t appreciated: like the city council deciding to shut down a popular summer street basketball tournament (not the Rucker, but similar) in a bow to politically more savvy newcomers’ wishes and their complaints about the “noise” of the hip-hop accompanying the event; the move to “rename” Harlem south of 125th “SoHa” or South Harlem, again in a bid to make newcomers feel like they’ve “discovered” something “new” (something wrong with them just living in Harlem?); and, of course, the spike in rental rates in a city that, unlike many others, is renter-heavy.
No matter how much we appreciate the new services, we black Americans cannot get so caught up in them that we lose sight of the need to create true economic and personal security for ourselves and our communities. To do this, we must do as our grandparents did: Value the power of education, live beneath our means, stack cash, and teach our kids (and ourselves) our history and to take pride in it, and ultimately ourselves as a people.
I’m late to the party…
I grew up in a neighborhood that went from postal rich property owners to hood to a war zone in what seems like overnight.
As soon as I could I moved to a tiny apartment in Hyde Park (a bougie multi ethnic neighborhood in Chicago) and folks laughed because my rent was so high and my square footage low.
But I was safe and could get food and back and forth to work without fear of rape or death.
While my safety and quality of life improved tremendously… it took several years before I could get my grandmother to follow suit, so we pooled our money and I lived with her in an even better spot until she died.
I then moved into another studio apartment… and raised my daughter there until she was 4… even though folks kept telling me there were bigger places in worse neighborhoods we stayed put until we moved to the a nice middle class suburb.
Upgrading is necessary for survival which is a primitive drive… even more important than being around the clan is having access to resources and a safe clean shelter… especially when you are caring for the very young or old, who are in no position to fend for themselves.
It’s hard to give a f*ck when doing so my end your life or that of a loved one~JS
Taking a deep breath. . .
I live where I can afford— around the corner from Jerry’s Carryout, Boost Mobile, the wig shop just went out of business. . . . but being white and poor in DC is something totally new to some. There is not a day that goes by that some hate spewed at me “You people are pushing us out!” Sorry my friend– I typically turn to see who is in back of me!!! I am just trying to live and work and feel safe like everyone else.
After constant tirades with the lack of police presence in my neighborhood I got involved. I got involved because I am tired of the drug dealer across the street and tired of the foolery that goes on daily in the neighborhood. Communities that work together in numbers get things done. Young and old– black and white we are making a difference in my neighborhood. Usually I write a smart A comment on here but this issue I hear about every single day and at the end of the day all I can say is I am excited for the dedication of the Dr. King memorial. See ya’ll there!
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When I recently read an article about DC no longer being a majority black in part due to gentrification, my heart got the weepsies. But I came to the realization that gentrification is really more of a class-based phenomenon than racial: gentrifiers can be white, black or whoever has more money than the average current residents of a neighborhood. It’s funny — not ha-ha funny, but we been hood-winked funny — how it was never called “gentrification” when upwardly mobile black people saved the otherwise dying suburbs surrounding Atlanta, Detroit, Birmingham, etc. Moreover, gentrification is socially symptomatic of a lack of affordable housing. It wouldn’t be a problem having people with money move in if those that are forced out have affordable housing options or small business lending opportunities to help them in the re-/dis-location process. But they don’t, and we have to be conscious of the fact that we occupy the uncomfortable gray space of being both part of the problem and part of the solution.
I feel you. I live in East L.A. (the real East L.A.; not Silver Lake/Echo Park) and I’m waiting for the day there’s at least a Trader effin Joe’s! All we get in this 99.9% Latino community are fast food joints and liquor stores. I’m all for bringing coffee shops and healthy markets to the ‘hood. People who actually give an ish about their health shouldn’t have to drive 15 miles west to the nearest Whole Foods. With gentrification come opportunities for young brown professionals like myself to actually walk to a cafe that offers free Internet. Imagine that!
and who puts these fast food places and liquor stores there? Is it black people? When white people move in, they open up a variety of healthy choices for them to choose from. The problem is black and hispanic people don’t own anything. White people care about themselves, so in return there will be great food options. White people do not care about us, and that is why you have a whole bunch of Church Fried and KFC on every corner. And most importantly WE dont care about US, and that is why liquor stores are so lucrative in the hood.
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This is why black people will never WIN as a whole. Because we are actually happy when socio-economic issues like gentrification happen in our neighborhoods. Stop looking at the motherfucking pawns, and start looking for the KING. Why are our neighborhoods the way they are, why do we shoot, kill, rob, and disrespect each other.What is the root of our problem. And are we trying to fix it? Or are we just glad that it’s not in our five mile radius anymore. No matter how much you want to push things out of sight, the issues and problems that exist within us, will always come back and rear its ugly head. The writer of this post receives a FAIL for this post in MY EYES. If we do not rise as a PEOPLE, we will always be at the mercy of men and women who do not share our hue.
This article makes me glad that I am Nigerian. Because even though Nigeria has its flaws, we still have a strong love for self and culture that African Americans are seriously lacking.