[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
“Gentrification” is such a bullshit term. I mean, if a neighborhood (or a ghetto) with high crime, high substance abuse, etc… IMPROVES, “what’s the problem”, you say? It’s not reactionary, class warfare, “reverse” racist, entitlement bullshit. It’s a talking point of a SYMPTOM, not a PROBLEM. The problem is that there are millions of minorities in shitty neighborhoods with shitty schools and shitty teachers and shitty police that perpetuate a shitty situation (I do realize that the legacy of slavery and segregation is far more complex than just labeling it as a “shitty situation”). Instead of “healing” the issue at a fundamental level, it’s been a cascade of band aid superficial “fixes” over the years that have proven to be ineffective. That’s what this is about. It’s not that “black people don’t want good jobs or good food”. They want the American Dream.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been pretty lucky with real estate. I bought a condo back in '04 just south of Logan Circle in DC. Back then, it was on the “wrong side” of 16th street. But it was walking distance to the U st corridor, Adams Morgan, K st and Dupont - all my favorite night spots back in the day. So I bought this shitty little 700 sqft condo for 125K - it was more of a “smash pad” than anything, the mortgage was cheaper than all the cab fare I would spend a month cabbing it to DC / getting a hotel room.
Then they built a Whole Foods two blocks away. Then came the Yoga studios, the salons, the music stores, the trendy bars, THREE coffee shops (not Starbucks - that was so last decade! lol), the bars and restaurants with bloody mary menus for Sunday brunches and a felafel shop. Don’t forget the yogurt shop! So it “gentrified” and completely transformed the neighborhood in just a couple of years. I sold that condo for 350K cuz it was now on the “right side” of 12th street.
I did not see a lot of locals benefiting from the “affluence”. There were not many “lower class” minorities working the registers at the Whole Foods. Certainly not teaching in the Yoga studios. Pretty much didn’t see a whole lot of that “benefit” going to those who were there in the neighborhood before it was “cool”. You can call that racism. You can call it class warfare. But you can’t call it FAIR to those who lived there “before the white man came and took their land”…[/quote]
Interesting story, and yes, I see your point. Still, if creating better opportunities and more businesses in a ‘bad’ or, let’s say “less than great” neighborhood isn’t the way to improve things for those who live there, then what’s the alternative? Is there a way to improve conditions, or do the great locales only exist because we maintain the crummier ones to balance things out?
S[/quote]
This is a great question.
It’s almost as if people who live in a crummy neighborhood are dissatisfied with their living environment, yet when efforts are made to improve the situation there are complaints that they are being forced out.
I don’t know the answer to the problem but it’s an interesting dynamic.