Small Business, Local Streets

It is difficult to say that gentrification is evitable because the demographics and the cultural and social makeup of a neighborhood is dynamically changing. It may first begin with a group of immigrants starting up a store in a low-income community, both benefiting by lower rents and catering to working class shoppers. As time goes by owners will have children, who will then grow up and climb the social ladder by going to colleges. As children leave, owners have no one else who can take over and the ethnic cluster of parents shops will disappear. Then another ethnic immigrant groups succeed the previous group, creating a different ethnic cluster. However, in recent years, as mentioned in Global Cities, Local Streets: Everyday Diversity from New York to Shanghai, the authors highlight a trend called “super-diversity.” Many neighborhoods no longer cater to the specific group of ethnic community, rather the local shopping street, both shop owners, and its customers, is made up of a diverse group of mostly immigrant individuals. As the neighborhood become more diverse, artist, writers, and other hipsters are attracted to such community. Migration of these groups of people effectively causes development of “Art galleries, boutiques, and cafes,” the ABSs of gentrification as noted in Professor Zukin’s book.
Local shopping streets provide a natural community center for nearby residents, engaging in social interactions as they shop. Nearby stores also provide a convenient place to quickly get things they need either by a walk or bicycle. Most things the residents need – Grocery, dry cleaners, hair salons – are all within minutes away from the residents’ home. However, due to technology, people are more willing to buy cheaper goods from elsewhere with more variety. With the development of e-commerce, such as Amazon, people can order goods that their local shopping stores do not have. With cars, some people are willing to drive to chain retail stores that offer goods that are cheaper prices than their local stores. New York, with its many crowded streets, helped slow down the development of large chains stores because these needed routes for trucks. It was also because New Yorkers lived in smaller apartments with smaller refrigerators that didn’t require bulk purchase for weekly or monthly stock up. But still, large chain stores started making its way into New York City, starting with Kmart and Target. Many large discount chain stores like Target also allow “one-stop shopping” where customers can shop for grocery, school and office supplies, clothes, furniture, and electronics all at once. Whereas individual small stores require their customers to shop regularly, chain stores can afford some loss, buffered by other stores in its chain, as long as they can attract few customers away from local stores. In doing so, slowly but eventually local stores cannot sustain without the few customers and ends up closing down.