Personal Narrative: The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge

To help counter these negative racial effects, there have been different movements in the borough to help concentrate the influence of communities that have traditionally lived in the area. Middle class African Americans in Brooklyn, specifically, have searched for ways to continue to help define Brooklyn in a way that isn’t resistant to change, but that helps to keep the influence of groups such as black Brooklynites inside the

The purpose for writing this essay is to demonstrate how gentrification is shaping the Culture and identity for Halrmites from the socio-economic perspective. Harlem has changed dramatically over the last two decades due to improvement in housing stock and outside investments into the community. However, in my essay, I articulated my ideas toward the economic aspect of gentrification because gentrification is driven by class, not race. My audience would be the lower income Harlem residents who have been displaced or on the verge of displacement because their wealth is not contributing to the economy. The people who have been preserving the cultural identity of Harlem for decades now forced to leave the community. I tried my best to connect a broader audience by explaining the deteriorated housing condition of Harlem and how it led to gentrification. This will help reader

Ultimately, the impact of gentrification on the Downtown Eastside will be most felt by its current low-income residents. It is understood that the complexity of the issues found in the Downtown Eastside does not allow for an easy fix. The extent to which gentrification’s impacts have been and will be felt by those living in the area are and will be great, respectively. While gentrification may bring diversity to Vancouver, it is at the expense of the many disadvantaged residents of the Downtown Eastside who will be

There has been a tremendous change in East Harlem between class warfare and gentrification. East Harlem is one more economic factor to the city’s wealth per capita since the attack of September 11, 2000. It is Manhattan’s last remaining development and it is on the agenda of the tax revenue of our government. East Harlem has become a profit driven capitalism. Gentrification enforces capitalism, it does not separate people, it does not go against race, poor and the working class, it wages war on the poor and the working-class.

I’ve lived in South Ozone Park, Queens for three years and throughout those three years my family and I have overall good remarks. South Ozone Park used to be a predominant Italian neighborhood, but over the years a lot of Guyanese individuals have occupied residency here, so that’s mainly the type of people you see in this neighborhood. There are of course plenty of people from other backgrounds; the whole area of South Ozone Park is pretty diverse. Italians still live here, and so do some Hispanics like Dominicans and Cubans from what I’ve seen on my block, but there are surely others. In my block everyone gets along because we all know each other well. Most of the residents on my block (there are

In the small town of Waco, Texas who would have thought it was once well known for the structure of a bridge, the Waco Suspension Bridge to be exact. Up until 1870, the Brazos River was just a simple river that had no special meaning to it. The land around it was empty, occasionally you would find cattlemen pushing their cattle across stream, but that was only because you could not find one bridge that spanned the eight hundred miles of river flowing through Central Texas. This caused a serious transportation issue for merchants and travelers. It became clear that a better means of crossing the river was necessary.

The statistics regarding the Bronx and Queens depicts a substantial difference between the two boroughs. The population in Queens is nearly a million more compared to the Bronx. However, the major cause of death for both happens to be Heart Disease as it takes the lives of thousands in the districts. The racial and ethnic composition is vaguely alike besides the percentage of Hispanic or Latino, Asian, and Black or African American. The Bronx has practically double the percentage of Hispanics and African Americans, yet, Queens has 22.3% more Asians than those in the Bronx. Nevertheless, the boroughs happen to be very diverse despite the differences. There is still a wide gap between the level of median household income as Queens is much more

The neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn is one of the best-known cases of recent gentrification. Prior to the gentrification taking place, Williamsburg was known for being a warehouse district that also doubled as an enclave for Hispanic and Hasidic Jews (Our Brooklyn: Williamsburg, Brooklyn Public Library). However, in 2005, zone changes were approved that allowed for more housing to be created in Williamsburg and made it so that only light manufacturing could take place in Williamsburg (Curran, 2004). and explores the challenges that gentrification has presented the neighborhood’s longtime residents. While one of the goals of the change in zoning was to create more affordable housing options in Brooklyn, the opposite has occurred.

Adding to the inequalities and misfortunes within communities of color, gentrification has taken the Bay Area by a storm. Gentrification is the purchasing of deteriorated urban homes and areas, then the renovation by higher-end and middle class communities. An abundance of high-end people rush into the Bay Area and purchase up the real estate. Incoming middle and higher class take the Bay Area real estate and revitalise it into up-and-coming neighborhoods, then increase rent prices. Therefore, reducing affordable housing for communities of color. Therefore, this revitalization is changing the character of communities because the Bay Area may appear nicer, the communities of color are unable to afford the standard of living. Communities of

The city of Huntington Park has gone through a tremendous amount of change in regard to race demographics and social class from 1980 to 2010. According to the 1980 census, Huntington Park was a highly diverse city with only 28% Latino residents, a median income of $62,500 and an average educational attainment of 70%. However, in 2010 a shift in population, income, and education attainment occurred; the population in 2010 was 97% Latino, the median income was $37,651 and the percentage of people graduating high school and pursuing higher education dropped to 41.2%. My neighborhood has gone through urban decay, similar to the seventh ward where new homes being built in other locations driving people out (Hunter). Diversity was lost when many

Number Seven: Brooklyn Bridge.The Brooklyn Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the East River from Brooklyn to Manhattan Island. It has become an icon of New York City and a National Historic Landmark.

Viewing the complex matter of gentrification succinctly, it helps to uncover how multifaceted it is; in that gentrification involves the oppression, marginalization, displacement of vulnerable populations, particularly, the poor, and the black who are often already negatively impacted by the effects of classism, and racism. Gentrification threatens to erode the communities and livelihood maintained by these set of people because their displacement becomes a precondition for the total transformation of the area.

In 1919, a study was begun to see if it would be possible to build a bridge across the Golden Gate. Michael O’Shaughnessy was the San Francisco city engineer. He was in charge of the rebuilding of the city after the devastating 1906 earthquake that destroyed much of the city. O’Shaughnessy knew the need for the city to have bridges. Most said it could not be done and others said it could be done but “it would cost about $100 million to build it” (Barter 23). O’Shaughnessy and Strauss, both wanting the same thing, got together. After the two consulted, they figured the only way to bridge the channel was to use a suspension bridge.

The bridge has a very well designed ‘sustainability’ concept, relying on upcycled materials to complete the bridge. These upcycled materials consist of the wood, the fishing net, the oil barrels and the plastic shielding for the barrels. These materials can be used for functional roles in the design, such as platforms, floatation, safety lines across hand rails, and so on. The bridge’s sustainability concept can be further supported by the ease of replacing materials, and not throwing them in the bin. The materials such as wood, plastic and pieces of metallic bolts and nuts can be recycled and reused for other purposed such as furniture, storage or completely recycled back into a molten form for the metallic objects.

Since the early 2000s, gentrification accelerated in various New York City neighborhoods. Data shown that about 29.8 percent of New York City has been affected by gentrification in low-income communities (Governing Data 1). This is over a 20 percent increased from the previous decade in New York City alone. Gentrification is a term used to describe displacement or renewal in urban neighborhoods as a result of increasing property values and rent prices. Gentrification has existed since the 1960s but has rapidly increased since then . Gentrification has now become a common and global controversial topic in many low-income neighborhood. Although, gentrification hasn’t always been bad from increasing job opportunities to lowering crime rates. Gentrification has impacted and transformed underprivileged districts in New York City. However, at the advantage of who ? Thus, gentrification has only increased average rates of poverty and infused neighborhoods with “white privilege”.