The gentrification of neighborhoods strips ethnic communities of identity and culture due to rising rent and corporations taking over the area in response to a new population of people. Small businesses, such as restaurants,delis, or mom-and-pop shops are constantly threatened by this changing environment. Throughout the years, my parents would lament the closing of several local businesses they have known for over a decade, as they offered good deals, customer service, and trust that only comes with frequent trips to an establishment. My grandma’s neighborhood in particular has proved to be an ever-changing landscape; Hispanic restaurants, clothing stores, and markets in Corona have gradually been replaced by fast food and supermarket chains.
As neighborhoods that have a certain ethnic population are displaced by a new population, part of the neighborhood’s identity is stripped away in favor of “brand name” institutions. To remain relevant, businesses must promote their ethnic identities. An important question raised in “The Endangered Enclave” is “What is the cultural value of a commercial enclave when the residents that sustained that enclave have been displaced?” If the current residents do not shop at these small businesses, then how does it contribute to the identity of the neighborhood as a whole? Are these businesses merely reminders of the past, that serve displaced residents of other neighborhoods who can reminisce of their old communities? The intriguing example of Little Italy was brought up in the article, and how they have made their food more expensive to tourists. Is this how businesses must evolve? Do businesses with a particular cultural identity have to become novelties to tourists just to survive?
Small businesses can also be third places, such as a local coffee shop,bookstore,bar, or pizza parlour. As Oldenburg writes, these third places are neutral spaces where people of any socioeconomic background can come to converse with others or simply just be there. Near my high school in Middle Village, one of those places is a deli on Metropolitan Avenue. Students from all walks of life would go there after school to buy something or simply hang out with each other. Construction workers or police officers that worked in the neighborhood would come to get their daily coffee in the morning or their lunch in the afternoon. The employees banter with kids and adults alike that come in everyday, and generally fostered a sense of community in a small space. Although there are a few fast food places on the block, everyone prefers the deli; it is easily accessible, reasonably priced, and the atmosphere is comfortable and lowkey. It it were closed, the community surrounding it would be devastated.
