Gentrification doesn’t happen overnight; it builds and builds on top of itself until it is so apparent, it hurts. It is a gradual process, but at the same time, gentrification is taking over and spreading at accelerated rates. New stores move into a neighborhood and drive up the rent prices for the homes and stores around it, thus displacing families and businesses that cannot afford to live there anymore. The element of race should also be taken into account since it is a visible trend that those who enter the neighborhood and cause the displacement are primarily young affluent white people and those being displaced are primarily poor marginalized minorities.

As a child of two Chinese immigrants, I identify strongly with the Chinese community and grew up in an Asian-dominated neighborhood. I often visited Chinatown, however, over the years, every time I enter Chinatown, the landscape changes. There is always a some new popular restaurant opening up and a new hipster cafe competing with the old-fashioned restaurants that I grew up with. Every time my cousins and I would go to Chinatown to go to our favorite childhood restaurant, we see more and more white people and white-owned cafes and shops entering our ethnic enclave. On a personal level, I can’t help but feel invaded in a sense. Chinatown was an community in which the waves of Chinese and Asian immigrants settled down and started building their new lives in this country. To see all that history being erased and replaced cafes that sells pricey avocado toast stings a little. As gentrification continues to creep into Chinatown, I fear for the stores and families that have to face this dilemma. Though I admit gentrification has brought a variety of businesses into the area, my heart still aches for the displaced families and stores.