Category: eportfolio posting assignment

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Does Gentrification Actually Help the Poor?

Since this week’s readings are centered around possible positive outcomes of gentrification, I thought I’d look for an article that focuses on that as well.

A Business Insider article states that there is little evidence that actually points to gentrification being responsible for displacing the poor and minorities. It also talks about how gentrifiers make life better since “they put pressure on schools, the police and the city to improve.” Here’s my favorite line towards the end: “However annoying they may be, hipsters help the poor.”

We’ve talked about it in class through Alexis’ demos of Social Explorer, but there’s no single statistic that can measure the impact of gentrification. There are the more obvious ones–income breakdown and racial demographics for instance–but more factors may be in play that lead to changes in those statistics. This is why people can argue that there is little to no evidence that indicates gentrification is detrimental to low income citizens and minorities. It’s difficult to claim that gentrification is the sole source of displacing these groups of people.

Additionally, after a conversation with a group of people yesterday, the “positive” results of gentrification may end up overshadowing the negative effects of people getting displaced. One acquaintance who lives in Long Island said he doesn’t want to hear anymore about people saying that gentrification is a bad thing, because it’s brought all these Starbucks to his neighborhood and helped reform in his community (and thus, less crime). “And what’s so bad about that?” There were two other people in the group who immediately chimed in, “hello, people lose their homes?” In this case, I could see for myself that this was an attitude of, “if it (gentrification) doesn’t directly affect me in a negative way, then it’s a good thing.”

Source: Economist, The. “Gentrification Is Good for the Poor.” Business Insider. Business Insider, 21 Feb. 2015. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.

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The Missing Factor

In “The Right to Stay Put, Revisited: Gentrification and Resistance to Displacement in New York City,” Kathe Newman and Elvin K. Wyly discuss displacement within New York City. This paper provides a detailed look at the following question. Does gentrification lead to displacement of low-income families or is that due to “the result of long-term industrial and occupational change” (Hamnett, 2003, p. 182). The paper highlights the multiple factors aside from gentrification that leads to this displacement of lower-income residents within New York. The nature of displacement within New York City is a multi-faceted issue that always comes back to one central theme, corruption.

In New York City, we start with Robert Moses. Moses was a man that was clearly hungry for power, basically monopolizing New York City’s planning department. He shaped New York City into the urban center it is now known as today. But, he did not do this alone. With the help of money-hungry real estate corporations, he built up areas that were “in need” of change. Moses’ plans both benefitted the city, and negatively affected people on an individual level. However, the driving force was always corruption. Moses took advantage of the system and made it so he was of such power that most of his ideas went largely unopposed. The corrupt big real estate players had no intention in mind other than taking advantage of people to make a larger profit.

So to examine the true reason for displacement we need to understand that corruption is inherently part of human nature, whether this has to do with power, money, or any other aspect of life. Based on a purely systematical view of this “problem” using basic principles of logical reasoning, the following could be inferred. Since human nature allows for corruption, and corruption is what caused gentrification of New York City and displacement of lower income families, it can be viewed that human nature is the cause for this displacement. The nature of humans to strive for bettering themselves is what detriments those worse-off. So, while the “quantitative” and “qualitative analysis” that Newman and Wyly reference in their paper does adequately suggest that there are more factors than gentrification that lead to displacement, the one factor that may explain it all goes unmentioned.

Works Cited
Newman, Kathe, and Elvin K. Wyly. “The Right to Stay Put, Revisited: Gentrification and Resistance to Displacement in New York City.” Urban Studies 43.1 (2006): 23-57. May 2005. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.
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“Shameless” on Gentrification

Shameless is a comedy/drama TV series about the Gallaghers, an Irish American family, who lives in the South Side projects of Chicago. The show is known for touching upon various “real-life” topics such as the effects of being part of the LQBTQ community to the effects of being out of “the hood”.

The video shown above is a small clip from the second episode of season five in which the father of the Gallaghers, Frank, recognizes the typical and straightforward signs of gentrification in their neighborhood. He is currently in The Alibi, a local bar of the neighborhood. As the show progresses throughout the season, The Alibi becomes “overrun” with hipsters who love the “authenticity” (which in the comedy shows references to the “crazy” Russian bartender and the overall “hood” vibe) of the bar. The Alibi, making more money off of the newcomers, then starts to cater to the new customers leaving the locals without their favorite spot. The show also introduces a lesbian couple, who being the symbol of gentrification, often has conflicts with the surrounding neighbors .

Although the show is a comedy, it manages to condense into a one minute scene how gentrification is perceived in mass society and the negative connotations that it has to those who have seen it for themselves and fear its effects. This fear and understanding is amplified in the show because these words come from the mouth of Frank, who in the show is one the least responsible and most reprehensible characters. Even a character such as this, however, still recognizes the negative effects of gentrification.

I chose this video because it reminds me of the articles Gentrification and Displacement written by Lance Freeman and Frank Braconi and Does Gentrification Harm the Poor? written by Jacob L. Vigdor. These two articles faced and challenged the “typical” perception of gentrification which includes migration of more affluent residents into lower-income neighborhoods thereby displacing the lower-income residents of that area. Although their articles argue and provide evidence that displacement of lower-income residents is not necessary to show the negative effects of gentrification, public perception and understanding of gentrification still might resonate with the typical model.