What Is Wrong with Cully, Oregon?

Anderson makes a strong case for the inevitability of ghetto life--in other words, once "ghettoization" begins, it continues its course without regard to a neighborhood's tentative and transitory movement toward gentrification. The middle class and well-heeled whites and minority cultures who move into regenerating urban communities are attracted to city life for its vibrancy and "charm," yet they ultimately are playing with fire when it comes to sharing the same neighborhood which was formerly the turf of gangs, prostitutes, drug dealers, and other societal deviants. Such areas are frequently called "colorful," when they are, in fact, dangerous. Charm and color quickly turn to fear and suspicion after more than enough reports of car break-ins, gang retaliations, and drug deals gone bad fill the local news. As Anderson (1990) points out in his conclusion:

When a neighborhood is gentrified it will not only change the image of it, but also the services available there (Al-Kodmany 2011, 62-63). In other words, gentrification does not only have an impact on the physical aspect of the land, but also the resources that lie there. During the 90s, the Near West Side neighborhood located near Loop, an up-scale neighborhood, sought drastic changes within the area. The changes in racial demographics in the Near West Side indicated that the health risks that affected minorities dropped in the past decade (1992-2002) (Al-Kodmany 2011,

Brooks uses the diversity of neighborhoods in America to support his claim: America lacks diversity. He states that he has noticed people are “making strenuous efforts to group themselves with people who are basically like themselves” (Brooks 132). People who share common values and interests seem to attract, including in communities. Brooks points out that many neighborhoods have a general race, values, and interests. When making this argument Books neglects addressing the origin of segregated neighborhoods. When America was just developing its government and values, millions of people where coming into America from other countries and relocating themselves. They moved in by and reached out to others who shared their common values and cultural beliefs. They segregated themselves for support and structure during their new adventure, becoming an American. While understanding that it looks as though America is not diverse because of the efforts made by Americans to segregate themselves, we have to keep in

Jane and Finch is a small neighborhood in the city of Toronto that many people assume is dangerous and that has a negative image because of the way media is constantly portraying this neighborhood. Although there are many other cities in Canada that have high crime rates and poverty, the media still seems to target Jane and Finch more in some way. Many people from other communities get shocked and terrified when one says that they are part of the Jane and Finch community. However, the people that are part of the Jane and Finch community continue to ignore the media image around them and what others think of their neighborhood and continue to fight for a better life. Actually, the Jane and Finch community is the best community to live in because there are many diverse people, there are community gatherings, and the schools have many more specialized programs and opportunities than other schools.

One other glaring example of the injustice committed by gentrification is the attack on localized social life, which in itself is a manifestation of the many wrongs perpetuated by this so called “painless” process, because before gentrification many of these areas were able to create and foster this sense of communal solidarity, which afforded and allowed them to build generational relationships, which placed an emphasis on creating a real sense of community pride. Therefore, many of the local residents took to the heart in looking out for what was best for their neighbors, thus there was not this sense of entitlement exhibited in residents, but a real sense of pride in knowing that they themselves were able to create something uniquely their own

The loss of public housing and the expanse of the wealth gap throughout the state of Rhode Island has been a rising issue between the critics and supporters of gentrification, in both urban areas such as Providence and wealthy areas such as the island of Newport, among other examples. With the cities under a monopoly headed by the wealth of each neighborhood, one is left to wonder how such a system is fair to all groups. Relatively speaking, it isn’t, and the only ones who benefit from such a system are white-skinned. With the deterioration of the economic status of Rhode Island, and especially in the city of Providence, more and more educated Caucasians are leaving to seek a more fertile economic environment.

I thought cities had more diversity, more poverty, and low income household than suburb areas and this was supported by the above data. I learned that the increase of wealth and income in a small community hinders the rest of community where middle and low income families live. The ability to live in a “good” neighborhood is linked to income. Income can be one of the factors that determine how a region can be segregated. Even in the city, the income of the household separates the lower income families from the higher income families. High income families tend to live together and low income families tend to live in the same

Zukin, an avid advocate for authenticity, discussed in detail how cities are losing their authenticity. Zukin described authenticity as “a continuous process of living and working, a gradual buildup of everyday experience.” The issue is many cities are that people are now coming and going all the time to the point where everyone stays a stranger to one another, shops are always being closed and changed, and nothing is ever around long enough to create a culture that leads to authenticity. Gentrification is taking away many neighborhoods authenticity as many corporate leaders and politicians look to “clean up” areas which usually has to deal with people of color that are poor. Authenticity and racial diversity are traded for capital. This leads to segregation of less fortunate individuals and families of color. When governments or businesses try and gentrify different neighborhoods they rely on laws, pressure, and lie in order to remove the people who live in these areas.

The Council member Ruben Wills shows how he is helping the neighborhood by giving the people opportunities. However, what good are the opportunities, if there is a bigger problem blocking the chances for betterment. I have grown up in many different neighborhoods, schools, and with people from all kinds of backgrounds. Therefore, my environments have created much of who I am today. Through all of the changes in my life, or maybe because of them, I have learned an exclusive personality and values. When I came to New York, I lived in the Bronx for four years. Then my family and I moved to the Queens where I am currently living. While growing up in my neighborhood I notice one major problem that has been occurring for many years. Society has not noticed the problem to put a stop

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

“people around here are willing to help their neighbors, this a close knit neighborhood, people in this neighborhood can be trusted, people in the neighborhood generally don’t get along with each other and people in this neighborhood don’t share the same values” (Sampson et al., 1997, 920).

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.

Communities that are becoming more gentrified have already seen an improvement of life, and positive lasting changes in those communities. Patrick Gillespie

Chinatown, Olvera Street, and Compton all contributed to culturally diversity and the expansion of Los Angeles. Although Los Angeles has become rich in cultures, its evolution did not go without racial tensions and segregation. With the arrival of blacks from the south, white-Los Angeles did always recognize the minority community. Angelenos did not always embrace diversity with pride, but perhaps the sad part is not the fact that racial segregation took place, but the fact that it was not created by just the individual, but also by the organization. Federal programs like the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Homeowner’s Loan Corporation (HOLC) divided up Los Angeles into a complex socio-economic racial-class system. The influences of the local level influenced the federal level and revolutionized the finance industry. (Avila, lecture 2/5/02) These federal organizations blatantly labeled minorities as derogatory, uneducated, second-class citizens that brought down property value in “white” neighborhoods. Latinos and Black were often labeled as a “minority problem” and even as a “disease” on official HOLC documents. The HOLC implemented strict government guidelines and kept maps of white neighborhoods confidential. It also devised a formal and uniform style of appraising homes by breaking neighborhoods into race classifications by letter. As Waldie states, “The Montana Land Company made it clear that lots were

Unlike the suburbs yet a suburban mentality was instilled; the idea that how we appear to others and education is the key to social mobility, well, the legal key. Although I was born a child of the ghetto I learned that the ghetto is where I’m teenage mother in Kingston, Jamaica. I currently reside in Seaview Gardens a community that is said to be a ghetto, and don’t get me wrong, it is but it’s my suburb and it’s where I learnt everything I know. “What people think of a ghetto is dependent on how people in the ghetto think” – Shadiomar McPharlene; where I live although there’s distractions all around,