…it’s here to stay.
Cartoon by Bill Bramhall ( for more cartoons click here: Cartoons)
With sleek high rises and trendy coffee shops opening up at unprecedented rates, gentrification has made its mark on the mainstream socio-political agenda. Rezoning and redevelopment within urban hubs have triggered an increase in property values. While the process of gentrification has much potential to stimulate the economy and improve the quality of life in a neighborhood, it can also shatter the livelihoods of many people – those who are forced to uproot and move out because they can no longer afford to live in an area.
Scholars like Fillip Stabrowski, Jacob Vidgor, and Kathe Newman and Elvin Wyley contribute to the discussion of gentrification by examining the phenomenon from distinct, often overlooked perspectives that complicate pre-existing arguments. In particular, Stabrowski expands the term gentrification to encompass more than just spatial relocation. He says, “I define ‘everyday displacement’ as the lived experience of ongoing loss—of the security, agency, and freedom to ‘make place.’ This is the inherently violent process whereby the systemic nature of capitalist gentrification colonizes ever-greater reaches of the lifeworlds of working class residents” (796). Everyday displacement fuels neighborhood erasure – or the loss of the unique character of a place. Thus in his examination of the evolving landscape of Polish Greenpoint, Stabrowski forces us to consider gentrification as a two-fold process – one that involves displacement from both the personal home and the communal enclave.
Continue reading “Gentrification is no longer just an urbanist buzzword…”