Gentrification is an incredibly intricate process with lots of moving parts; I’m not sure how effective it is to try to reduce this complex phenomenon into a series of stages that can be applied across cities. In this sense, I agree with Rose (1984) who was mentioned in the Lees piece. To me, gentrification cannot be generalized, precisely because it involves so many actors. It truly is, as Rose put it, a “chaotic concept (34).” Nevertheless, I find Lees’ model to be interesting, and I wonder how it would hold up when applied to New York neighborhoods – like Red Hook – that are currently undergoing gentrification.

I’m conflicted about how I feel about gentrification. On the one hand reinvestment does tend to make a neighborhood safer, while boosting its economy and its physical appearance – this is evident and quite familiar to New Yorkers from the Park Slope example. But this comes at what cost? How can these positive ends be achieved without the secondary effect of displacing lower income residents? Is that even possible? More should be done by the state and the gentrifiers to ease this incredibly stressful process for those displaced.