The Culture Of A City

There has been a recent phenomenon throughout the United States of gentrification. As older parts of neighborhoods are occupied by new tenants with money, the neighborhood changes and loses its old character. Those who might have lived in those neighborhoods their entire lives are pushed out as rents begin to skyrocket and the surroundings begin to change. This has happened in many neighborhoods. One of the most well known is San Francisco, where technology companies have brought in new software engineers that have caused local rents to skyrocket and people to move out of the area. However, just as importantly has been the influx of new money to Brooklyn, where local neighborhood changes have forced people from their homes, traditional music to be replaced, and old businesses to go bankrupt.

In the constantly changing economy of cities, the growth of city housing is oftentimes neglected. In “Cities Mobilize to Help Those Threatened by Gentrification” Timothy Williams recounts how gentrification has evolved over the years. Mentioning how cities have changed in order to appease the younger professionals, Williams shows how the city itself is in jeopardy due to the tax increases. Slowly loosing their faithful residents as well as historic culture cities face a big deal. Williams gives quotes from faithful residents, “…long time homeowners are victims of the success story”, (Williams 346). In “Cities Mobilize to Help Those Threatened by Gentrification”, Williams uses his credible quotes and modern statistics to generate the reader’s emotions, with desire to change how city officials go about gentrification in culturally infused cities.

For example, many cities that are rich in culture, diversity, and vitality are beacons for white people interested in the “upcoming scene.” This brings more and more whites who displace and marginalize the original residents through increasing prices. Cities such as New York, Boston, and San Francisco all have neighborhoods that originally had mostly poor, uneducated African Americans, and now are swelling with young, educated whites that have greatly increased the price of living. In Boston, Charlestown, Jamaica Plains, and Beacon Hill have all experienced intense characteristics of gentrification from the 1970s up until the present, showcasing an increase in the population with at least a bachelor’s degree, as well as a large increase in new and renovated buildings. In New York, the most famous example of gentrification is in Harlem, has undergone a process of gentrification after becoming known as the national, and even international symbol for black culture with a vibrancy that is not seen in the suburbs. Finally, in San Francisco, in the bay area, there has been a massive influx of affluent companies that have completely devastated the middle class due to a high rise in wealthy, educated, employees. These employees have taken residence up in the bay area, causing the entirety of the already previously gentrified neighborhood to skyrocket to unobtainable prices, even for the

Over the years, gentrification has been given many definitions from simply referring to, “…instances of new arrivals who were buying and bidding up old housing stock”, (Sanneh, 2016) to, “…disinvested areas of the city that are now experiencing rapid and significant increases in land and real estate values” (Jennings, Terrell, Douglas, Barnett & Harding, 2016, pg. 9) and many more. As noted previously gentrification is occurring throughout the world and the Midwest is not immune. The process of gentrification tends to go like so: visitors stumble upon a disinvested area that they take an interest in. Whether because the rent is cheap or the area is vibrant, they fall in love and decide to pack up their home and relocate. This scenario, from one point of view, can be seen as a story of a person deciding to broaden their horizon and see what other parts of the world has to offer. While the other point of view may see this as a possible financial burden, a cause for the major changes in the place they call their home and the likelihood of displacement.

As a New Yorker, the author bases his article in the big apple and starts it off by notifying the audience that New York residents are familiar with gentrifying all too well. Davidson continues on to state that “Gentrification doesn’t need to be something that one group inflicts on another…” (349), rather, he suggests that everyone be on the same page when it comes to developing their communities. Later on in the article Davidson brings up a vital point that Jonathan Rose, a “private do-gooder” developer presents, “…the key is to make sure that residents and shop-keepers in low-income neighborhoods have equity and a political voice, before a real estate surge” (352). The point the

Gentrification is an existential threat in the Bay Area due to urban renewal, spatial capital, and inequity. This threat can best be described as the process of residential or commercial use of an urban area shifting towards higher economic classes (Center, 199). The process of gentrification has caused many native residents to be displaced from their homes, as well as being forced to move further out of the area or become homeless. Neighborhoods that were once oasis’ for the working class are shifting and becoming too expensive for the people who live there. Food and job insecurity are two forms of inequity that contribute to gentrification practices. These three factors are key in the gentrification that is threatening Bay Area residents.

Gentrification is the process of taking distressed inner city neighborhoods and upgrading them to be more attractive to upscale skilled workers, and major corporations; where the neighborhood is converted to more affluent residential use. Studies profile most gentrifiers to be affluent, young, single, urban professionals and young, married couples who are both wage earners and have no children or small families. Housing improvements, city service upgrades and expansion of the local economy is often attributed to these gentrifiers. There are many New York City neighborhoods in recent years that have gone through gentrification. Some of those neighborhoods include Williamsburg, Downtown Brooklyn and Harlem to name a few. Gentrification can be positive for all involved if the government is able to employ successful provisions where the negatives turn into positives and existing members of the community won’t become unable to afford to continue to live in their residences due to rising housing costs and thus be forced out to live elsewhere. Support mechanisms must be in place for the current community to be able to reside and blend into the newly redeveloped community.

Gentrification is a general term for the arrival of wealthier people in an existing urban, district a related increase in rents and property values and changes in district’s character and culture. Gentrification works by accretion which is gathering momentum like a snowball. Gentrification has been the cause of painful conflict in many American cities. America’s renewed interest in city life has put a premium on urban neighborhoods, some of which have been built since World War II. It tends to occur in districts with particular qualities that make them desirable and ripe for change. Word travels that an attractive neighborhood has been “discovered” and the pace of change accelerates rapidly. An increase in median income and a decline in the

So with spatial mismatch becoming a bigger issue as time went by, city gentrification became a routine for all cities creating even more disparity in ranges of wealth. People who have lived in their homes for a long time are now being forced out by plans to incorporate more businesses and malls. Property taxes began rising and as the city centers changed, people weren’t able to afford products in their own communities anymore. They dispersed to different sectors of the city, some moving completely out of the city. Gentrification not only affects where people live. It also affects local businesses. Small business owners can’t keep up with the rent because the community around the owners are now very high in value with new businesses, condos,

So far in the 21st century gentrification has brought many lucrative opportunities to those who can take them. New buildings are going up and the city is growing and expanding. The article continues by saying “while gentrification can cause social discord, it doesn’t produce measurably more departures from neighborhood” (In Defense of Gentrification). This goes against the notion that gentrification is the main reason people are moving out of urban areas. Statistically, in many places there is no evidence that a gentrifying area will have greater departures than a non gentrifying one.

Some may ask though “how could cities such as Portland and Seattle be headed to a decline with how successful they are right now?” Well, these

It is inevitable that a city, regardless of its history, demographics, or economics will be subject to some types of change throughout its history. Cities which are resistant to change and redevelopment completely are unlikely to be cities which thrive and succeed. Nonetheless, the process of urban redevelopment of underused or underutilized areas to entice a more affluent tax base, known as gentrification is an issue which has been a constant battle for cities and its citizens for decades. Portland, Maine is no exception to this rule, as many neighborhoods within the city of have seen periods of rapid redevelopment which we would now call gentrification, and the effects of these changes, act as a blueprint for the active and future occurrences

The article from New York Time "Nothing Is Too Strange for Cities Wooing Amazon to Build There" by Gary Hovland, was talk about how different cities try to offer the CEO of Amazon's chief executive to build the second headquarters in their state. Currently Amazon was looking for new location to build their second headquarters, where they plan to invest $5 billion and it will create 50000 jobs. Which has become enormous competition among the cities across North America. Mayors of Tucson, Tulsa, Philadelphia, Ottawa and Frisco has already offer the Amazon to build their second headquarters in their state by presenting their plans and location for new headquarter to build. Adem Sedo, an Amazon spokesmen " We invited cities to think big, and we

Corporations are taking over the urban landscape. In previous years, many upper and middle class families fled to the suburbs to escape the everyday hustle of city life. However, in recent years, city living has become glamorized and thus the movement back into the city has increased. Once blighted inner-city neighborhoods are being taken over and revitalized by corporate leaders in hopes to redesign and yuppify these areas. As more money is put into the area, the higher the market value goes up and as a result, many local residents can no longer afford to live there. While these residents are pushed out, a more ‘desirable’ group of residents move in and thus, take over. This process, known as gentrification, is occurring in many cities all across the nation. In the past, displaced residents could possibly move to another area that was not undergoing this process. However, as we are seeing in Chicago, it is nearing impossibility to move to an area within the city that will not

The objective of this report is to inform about the new City of Culture initiative and to outline what it means for Limerick City as a cultural location, now and in the future. Limerick City is the first city in Ireland to hold the title of National City of Culture, which was launched as part of a new cultural initiative by Minister for Arts and Heritage, Jimmy Deenihan, and the Government. A city in Ireland will be selected as a National City of Culture every two years, with the designation itself lasting a full calendar year. The aim of the initiative is to deliver a program of cultural events for that year with the hope that it will have a long-term positive effect on the chosen city.