Joshua Sloan
Sharon Zukin presents the view that the “soul” of a neighborhood lies in the long time residents. The people responsible for the growth of the neighborhood and those who have often sacrificed the most for the neighborhood are the long time residents. Neighborhoods aren’t spawned out of thin air and, therefore, all neighborhoods posses a rich historical account of its inception. The undiminishable significance of each neighborhood has recently been jeopardized by potential gentrification. Gentrification lurks behind the antiquity of long standing neighborhoods and threatens the “soul” that long time residents have garnered through blood, sweat and tears.
Constitutionally we know that a resident of a neighborhood is as entitled as the next, but is that the way it should be? The long time residents have contributed an exponentially larger amount of concerted effort to provide a suitable inhabitance for the new coming residents. From a purely logical standpoint, it is hard to dispute that the long time inhabitants should be more entitled than the newcomers who leech off the efforts of their predecessors – although we know this is not the case. Despite the simplistic view of this issue, seemingly implicating the newcomers as the impetus for gentrification, the true power lies with those who are intent on maximizing exchange value; these powerful and influential figures that possess the means to enact noticeable change are the ones who are actually culpable for promulgating gentrification.
It’s difficult to determine if there is truly a bad guy in this scenario: yes gentrification often leads to a loss of culture and soul, but do the economic benefits outweigh the unquantifiable sentimental value? The answer is ultimately subjective – how can you put a value on the sacrifices and contributions long time residents have made in order to preserve and improve the neighborhoods they have called their home for so many years? As I was reading the articles, I was forced to constantly ask myself that question. Although it is subjective, I believe that there is something profoundly unidentifiable in the spirit of the neighborhood; something that shouldn’t be sacrificed at any cost.
Joshua Sloan
