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GENTRIFIER
in
UTP insights
ISBN 978-1-4426-5045-9
(UTP insights)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4426-5045-9 (cloth)
HT170.S35 2017 307.3'416 C2016-907723-3
Foreword vii
Acknowledgments xi
1 Tools 3
2 Dispatches 40
3 Invasions 87
4 Columbus 129
5 Collisions 172
Notes 205
References 213
Index 231
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Foreword
say they “admit” that they are involved implies some feeling of
guilt – which they do honestly reveal – but they seek ways to move
beyond this guilt by their very acknowledgment of the problem
and how they hope to cope with the undesirable aspects of their
situation through both academic and social/political actions. Their
detailed stories of “gentrifiers” – although the authors question
the utility of the term, at least as it is currently used – tellingly
reveals the mixed feelings of many others like themselves about
being involved in the process. So one intriguing aspect of the book
is the self-awareness with which the authors combine their aca-
demic analyses with their personal experiences, a tricky challenge
that they confront head-on and, I believe, quite successfully. It is a
methodologically rich book in this respect.
But the more analytic parts of the book, partially theoretical,
partly empirical, are a gold mine of insights. They belong, I be-
lieve, in an important component of good social science research,
in which apparently simple concepts – frequently barely examined
but taken for granted in their use – are dissected, in which their
value implications are brought out, their variations defined, and
their clumsiness refined. Concepts such as diversity, inclusion,
growth, efficiency, sustainability, are terms with multiple mean-
ing, depending on the adjective that precedes them, who the actors
involved are, what their magnitude and setting are, the type of
spaces that are involved, and so on. For a discussion of gentrifica-
tion such as the one this book undertakes, the question of who is
benefited and who is hurt – and with what ethical implications – is
a crucial concern that is not always highlighted.
The authors confront the morass of meanings and their policy im-
plications and, given the length of the book, do so comprehensively:
literature review, statistical analysis, case studies, groundbreaking
theoretical works, and such detailed quantitative data as are avail-
able. And they are not afraid to stake out their own views and come
to their own policy conclusions. I am tempted to summarize these
views as holding that the evil part of gentrification is displacement
and the desirable part physical improvement, the constant challenge
being who is benefited, who is hurt, and what can be done about it.
Foreword ix
But that summary is far too simple and in many ways treacher-
ous. Is displacement always bad if it leads to betterment, even
for the displaced? Is upgrading good up to a certain point, but
not beyond it? Where is that point? Is improving physically low-
quality housing for poor residents more important than prevent-
ing their segregation by income or race? What role can/should
government play in the process, granting that it is largely – but
not only – market driven? What tools are available for politi-
cians making policy and for planners who often are called on
to analyze, propose, and implement policy to assess gentrifica-
tion’s pluses and minuses? The authors develop frameworks to
go about answering these questions, including a gentrification
“multi-tool” that permits an organized approach, if not the guar-
antee of an answer.
Answers are indeed hard to come by, which is not the authors’
fault; gentrification is a most complicated and indeed contra
dictory subject. The book is basically optimistic, and its focus
on what can and should be done is welcome. And it presents a
variety of options for action. They are a good starting point for
what ought to be done to put some of the benefits of their acute
analysis into practice.
Interests will clash; cultures will clash; classes, of course, will
clash; beliefs and values will mix and mingle. Books like this will
help us combine an understanding of how the real world func-
tions with the basis for socially evaluating that functioning, and it
suggests the potentials and limits of what can be done about the
process. In highlighting the value-laden character of “objectively”
gentrifying, the book is “must” reading for anyone, anywhere,
anyhow, involved in or affected by changes in the use of space in
our urban society – as most of us are.
Peter Marcuse
Professor Emeritus of Urban Planning
School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Columbia University
New York, NY
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Acknowledgments
Tools
What people don’t seem to realize is it isn’t the mere act of moving into a
neighborhood that makes you a gentrifier; it’s what you do once you get there.
Dannette Lambert, political consultant in Oakland1
The Mirror
1,300 square feet and many other families lived in similar situations,
which often drove people into the streets. His neighbours were im-
migrants (from Greece, Italy, Poland, Japan, India, etc.), migrants
from rural settings (Puerto Rico, Wisconsin), people who grew up
in Chicago and other cities – contributing to what John and his
siblings recall as a warm, connected, safe neighbourhood with a
mix of blue-collar and white-collar households. In writing this book,
John realized how much this micro-context mattered; as Gans
noted, “people do not live in cities or suburbs as a whole, but in
specific neighborhoods ... defined by residents’ social contacts.”14
In 1997, John crossed paths with Jason when both entered gradu-
ate school at New York University. A few years later, at his church
in Brooklyn, John met his wife Monique, a Brooklyn-born, Black
Caribbean woman. First living in Brooklyn after they married in
2006, they later moved to San Diego, where their two daughters
were born. After six years they moved to Chicago, where they in-
tend to settle for the long term.
In this book we each share our time in multiple neighbourhoods
in New York City – Williamsburg, Fort Greene, Park Slope, Harlem,
Morningside Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Sunset Park –
making connections with the dense amount of literature focused
on this city. We also discuss three significantly different American
cities: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; San Diego in southern Califor
nia; and Providence, Rhode Island. Our moves to these cities paral-
lel changes in our personal lives. We bring in single life, marriage,
housing, children – the gamut of life issues. We work to take our
gentrification stories into the context of urban studies and into
macro-level or large-scale focus, showing how gentrification is not
confined to a limited set of places, but also how it is quite d
ifferent
in different contexts.
Our auto-ethnographic orientation raised a series of complica-
tions. How do we deal with housing prices? In which ways do we
confront homogenization and commercialization? What makes our
lives contented; what unsettles our households or families? How
does the current form of capitalism actually affect lives? How do
the politics of race shape our navigation of these processes? How
do we disentangle economic inequality from new opportunities?
Tools 9
Gentrification as Everything
and Everything as Gentrification
We argue in this book that myriad diverse urban issues have been
subsumed under the gentrification umbrella. Consider the Barclays
Center in Brooklyn (opened in 2012) and the Lincoln Center for the
Performing Arts in Manhattan (opened in parts from 1962 to 1969),
the latter built during the “urban renewal” era in the United States,
which we will discuss in chapter 3. The former is a large, flowing,
copper oval emblazoned with a large blue corporate logo that
serves as home to the NBA (basketball) Brooklyn Nets and NHL
(hockey) New York Islanders. The latter is a series of three white
modern buildings evoking classical structures that features opera,
ballet, jazz, classical orchestra, and other performances. Are both
examples of gentrification?
We would argue that an approach suggesting that both sites,
constructed fifty years apart, are gentrification illustrates how the
term has overgrown its original boundaries. Consider also an ar-
ticle in which a New York Times art critic heralded Charles Marville’s
photographs of late 1800s Paris as capturing the city before gentri-
fication.15 Geographer Neil Smith similarly situated the restructur-
ing of nineteenth-century Paris as gentrification.16
10 Gentrifier
Who Me?
“moving here just ‘because everyone else is,’ really care about diver-
sity.” This is likely because, as she states, “they’re just focusing ... on
their craft beer, pretentious restaurants, and overpriced food co-op.”
Recognizing her perspective, John responded, “So I assume that
you do not see yourself as a gentrifier?” Sherri replied that she did
not. “I have really appreciated the diversity of people and experi-
ences in the neighbourhood,” she explained. “While I am not
Latino, I have learned to speak Spanish since moving here. I volun-
teer my time at a local food pantry. I always support my neigh-
bourhood’s businesses.” Sherri continued to explain how she
navigates life in the neighbourhood: “I take the time to know my
neighbours well and I embrace this neighbourhood just as it is and
I will continue to do so. But I grew up in an all-white, all-the-same
suburb. So I really don’t want to lose what we have here.”
There are several important and common ideas embedded in
Sherri’s feelings. First, her desire is to freeze the social composition
of the neighbourhood “as it is.” Second, she seems to distrust other
in-movers, fearing that they will not recognize the optimal balance
that currently exists in the neighbourhood in the way that she
does. In addition, she aligns gentrification – although, significant-
ly, not her own – with materialism and consumer-driven behav-
iour. But, aside from a concern for social composition and a sense
of distrust, Sherri’s words evidence a cultural crisis: even if white
newcomers do not exhibit materialistic and consumer-driven be-
haviour, their presence is problematic because their sheer numbers
will change the “social mix” to be – in her eyes – less diverse. They
will bring what she perceives as a suburban homogenization. She
wants to be there, but if there are too many “Sherris” there, it will
spoil everything.
This brand of authenticity, as sociologist David Grazian noted, is
a “zero-sum game in which too many seekers ... can spoil the fun
for everyone else.”52 Of course, a further complication is the fact
that statistically, as the neighbourhood is attracting different class
and ethnic groups, it is becoming more diverse. To Sherri, “diverse”
means different from her and, more specifically, non-white. She is
aligning with this perceived authenticity – learning Spanish, work-
ing on behalf of poorer residents, embracing local businesspeople
Tools 19
– and she therefore sees herself as somehow being more native than
other newcomers. She is actually not a newcomer. Yet having been
there for twelve years, she still feels as if others are the real residents
and she needs to adjust.
We understand this seeking of real community and authentic
city life. In fact, we see strands of it within ourselves. In 1887
German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies lamented the loss of the
Gemeinschaft – what he called “the only real form of life.” The
Gemeinschaft, the “family spirit” germane to the town, is a senti-
ment rooted “in the mind and heart.” The city, on the other hand,
is dominated by a Gesellschaft of “restless striving” in which every-
thing must be “exploited in a capitalistic way” and, according to
Tönnies, the “real life” is lost.53 But what is at the root of this desire
for “real life” in the present day?
Sociologist Jon Caulfield had two ideas regarding where the
desire for a “subjectively effective present” comes from. First, he
suggests, the desire for real community may be in response to
governments’ mass demolition of the urban fabric in earlier eras
and its replacement by huge monolithic projects (more on this
subject in chapter 3). The resulting sense of loss is twofold: one
aspect relates to the destruction of a variety of architecture; the
other the dismantling of complex, highly connected communi-
ties. Second, and relatedly, Caulfield noted that some of gentrifi-
cation’s cultural roots may also be a response to domination of
urban life and urban places by capitalistic exchange values – the
simplistic valuation of land merely for its worth in the open mar-
ket.54 This market-driven approach has created modernist ho-
mogenized suburbs as well as urban environments “assiduously
contrived” by real estate developers pursuing the highest and
best use as they try to pack in everything their target consumer
desires.55 Gentrification need not involve a search for an authen-
ticity that predates such environments. But when it does, it in-
volves – as does all authenticity-seeking perhaps – “a fantasy that
the experience of an idealized reality might render” life “more
meaningful.”56 The more meaningful alternative to exchange val-
ue is often understood as use value: the value enjoyed by the use
of a place.
20 Gentrifier
Our Multi-tool
“The things that low-income people think are nice,” says Nancy
Biberman, who runs the Women’s Housing and Economic Devel
opment Corporation (WHEDco) in the Bronx, “are the same as what
wealthy people want.”78 Of course, the reality is a bit more complex,
but there is a valuable nugget of truth here. Our multi-tool flexes to
work at making sense of housing decisions in various possible
contexts. And that feature is important. As we will see, particular
facets take on a unique significance in a gentrifying context.
The gentrifier is a social, political, and economic actor whose
“needs and desires … in conjunction with other contingent fac-
tors, may become important in producing gentrification.”79 While
economics has traditionally overprivileged choice, critical sociol-
ogy must not respond to this error by failing to interrogate indi-
vidual choice.80 Indeed, gentrification does not occur because
middle-class people decide to be gentrifiers. But deeming all
things structural allows middle-class residents to ignore their
own agency. We believe that we simply cannot get the whole sto-
ry until our critical eye follows us home. Ultimately, just as there
are no gentrifiers without gentrification, there is no gentrification
without gentrifiers.
We hope that our multi-tool can be useful in a variety of projects
including the project of examining our household’s own residen-
tial decisions. We think that this exercise will illuminate the inex-
tricability of agency and structure.81 Instead of a standard-issue
hammer that assumes each case to be an indistinguishable nail,
we need a tool that has utility for a variety of experiences. A struc-
tural approach provides us with a very sharp understanding of
the macro and meso levels, but it gets a bit fuzzier as the analyst
“zooms in.” Micro-level consumption patterns, on the other hand,
are very sharp on the street level and get a bit fuzzier as one
“zooms out.”
Any argument that one side has all the answers in the debate –
which pits “consumption” or “demand” or “agency” versus “pro-
duction” or “supply” or “structure” – should be relegated to its
proper place within the graduate student theory seminar. The an-
swer on the street level, of course, is both: all of these phenomena
are concomitant. People make up structures and the structures
28 Gentrifier
make up the trajectories of people – all at the same time. Yet this
implicit gulf remains readily discernible in academic journals,
popular media, and community meetings.
The challenge in urban studies is to identify a place’s character
in a way that captures the multi-faceted social, cultural, political,
and economic life in the built environment – that is, to ask: what
makes up a place? It is not enough to focus on one aspect or one
scale. With this in mind, our multi-tool follows in the footsteps of
sociologist Harvey Molotch and his colleagues, who brought
sociologist Bruno Latour’s idea of “lash-up” into urban studies.
Molotch et al. work to show how “rather than resulting from one
force overpowering another (e.g., the material versus the symbol-
ic), things exist in the world through the ‘success’ of connections
among various forces and across ... realms” as diverse as architec-
ture, social clubs, non-profits, businesses, street design, demo-
graphics, natural amenities, and political agendas.82
The “lash” imagery, while abstract, is useful: it suggests a bun-
dle of sticks being combined into a single unit with a rope. As each
city’s context is different, the specific manner in which a city’s
parts “lash up” or cohere is different, and therefore the outcome is
altogether different. The debates about gentrification tend to pit
one slice of urban life and urban analysis against another, rather
than work to place the pieces together into a messy but more com-
plete whole. Our multi-tool is intended to allow for both specific
inquiries and analytical triangulations. So what are the behav-
iours and the motives of the people within the structure, the gen-
trifiers? How do individuals make up the structure around them?
Our multi-tool encompasses seven facets of a housing choice:
monetary, practical, aesthetic, amenity, community, cultural authentic-
ity, and flexibility.
Let us begin with the basics: money. The gentrifier’s locational de-
cision is characterized by a monetary facet. This facet includes, first,
the affordability of housing as well as, second, the potential for it to
serve as a primary asset in a household’s wealth.
Tools 29
Figure 1: Multi-tool