Homework 10/16/2020

My first source entry is an article produced by National Geographic, focusing on gentrification in America. The title of this article is “Gentrification” and it focuses on anthropology, sociology, and U.S history. The article was directed by Tyson Brown and National geographic, along with many other production managers and program specialists. It was released by the producer Clint Parks on October 24th 2019.

The article starts by discussing that gentrification is when wealthy and well educated individuals move into “poor and working class” communities, usually containing an abundant amount of colored people. Oftentimes there is a tension between the ones who gentrify and the original inhabitants, as they may have conflicting goals and ideas in reference to the community. Gentrification can be hard for both sides. On one hand the original residents’ previous way of living is at stake, while on the other it can be hard for the aforementioned gentrifiers to adjust to this new way of living. As a neighborhood gentrifies, the opportunities that it provides economically increases. Thus causing it to be more desirable and sought after by other rich and wealthy individuals. There is still a debate going on about whether gentrification is good or bad. In the article it states “There is even some research that suggests that black, working-class families tend to stay in gentrified neighborhoods rather than leave them, and that the economic benefits of gentrification do indeed reach all residents.”

After reading this text a lot of my previous questions I had going into this were answered. I fully agree with a lot of the information that was given in the text, it helped to answer my aforementioned questions. In the article it states “Rising costs of living and a changing community culture can make for a difficult adjustment for longtime residents. These changes may drive out people of color and minority-owned businesses. At the same time, gentrification brings much needed investment into long-neglected areas.” This quote helped to answer a question I had previously dwelled on which was “Why are people against gentrification”. I believe that the text also did well in the fact that it not only answered my questions, but it also answered questions I had not yet thought of. One example of this is in the text it gives a background description on when gentrification originated, being after world war II.

Other things i think would help my essay would be to look up instances in specific communities where gentrification became or is becoming a big problem. After reading this text i found out that Bushwick, Brooklyn NY is currently in a big battle with gentrification, and i want to explore other communities too. This text also helped to narrow down my search to gentrified neighborhoods in only New York, where previously i was going to research gentrified neighborhoods in general. If i could say something to the author i think i would ask if they’ve had any experience with gentrification. It would’ve been interesting if my source had a first person account of this, however I knew it wouldn’t as the article was a professional and informative national geographic text.

“The poor communities of color who tend to inhabit neighborhoods targeted for gentrification were often the victims of unfair housing policies from the end of World War II.”

“Old shops, restaurants, and other neighborhood features may be driven out by storefronts that cater to new residents. Perhaps worst of all, the old residents themselves may be forced to leave. Rising costs of living and a changing landscape for jobs mean that the benefits gentrification brings to an area are often distributed unequally.”