The book Camden After the Fall shows the city’s development process and its efforts to get out of poverty. Camden has ongoing consequences of failed policy attempts. This book shows us the economic recovery and the structural and contextual factors that impede Camden, New Jersey’s search for growth. According to the author Howard Gillette Jr., the sources of Camden’s on-going problems are multifaceted with Migration patterns, racial make-up, the low-level labor supply, the lack of public financing dollars, and levels of social capital.
In his Book, Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor, Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh, explains that in the early-nineties while doing field work in the Southside of Chicago he gravitated to a predominantly working-poor black community near his field site (ix). Venkatesh describes the ten-squared block community as being in disrepair very much like the high-rises that were being torn down in the surrounding area (iv). In the presence of some “greystones” and “brownstones” Venkatesh noticed vacant lots, beat-up homes, and what he perceived to be inadequate city involvement in the community -streets need fixing, and trash pick-up was lacking (x). There were also closed storefronts and burned-out buildings in the area (Venkatesh, 92).
Christians need to be able to live where the poor live and help them when they need help. Bob Lupton, author of the article, “Gentrification with Justice,” leads by example and shows how Christians can help the poor, showing explicit examples of the area of Gentrification. Without people such as Lupton, the world would be a very dark place full of hopelessness and chaos. Lupton knows that gentrification happens and looks to the church to help him.
There were a number of problematic themes throughout Dr. Mary Pattillo’s book, Black on the Block, but the most taxing was the criminalization of the poor from the black middle class and majority of the “actors” working towards the revitalization of North Kenwood-Oakland. Dr. Pattillo addressed these issues to the reader, however my quandary was connected specifically to the responses from the black brokers and outside participants in repairing NKO. Throughout the reading, there was little to no deeper analysis of the conditions, which caused the decline of the neighborhood from the black gentrifiers and decision makers. Instead, there were numerous mentions of the ill behavior, influx of drugs and crime as well as lack of community pride
The community of the City of Asbury Park is one of the poorest in the State of New Jersey. As of now, the City’s local economy does not fulfill or generate enough financial resources or opportunities for all of its residents to transcend or be uplifted from poverty. The consequences of not having comprehensible and consistent economic policies are the roots for dilapidated housing, crime, and unemployment. The cycle of poverty and dissolve of the middle class has weakened the community of Asbury Park, and it has trapped many individuals and harmed their upward mobility.
There has to be a realistic solution that can be put into motion to benefit everyone involved. Referring again to his article “Is Gentrification All Bad?” Davidson argues that urban renewal, if done right, is not a monstrous custom that it is painted to be; nevertheless, he reasons that gentrification depends on who does it, how they do it, and why they do it. As a resident in New York, a city where gentrification is as widespread as the common cold in winter, Davidson speculates that those who go into a neighborhood with the intention to renovate houses, or abandoned buildings ought to have a good reason for it. The author points out that “Gentrification does not have to be something that one group inflicts on another…” (Davidson 349), rather, he suggests that everyone, the gentrifiers and the locals, be on the same page when it comes to developing their
The documentary explores the topics of political shifts within the suburbs, their political influence, their segregated history, their current landscape of diversity, transportation, affordable housing, planned growth, and how to better handle suburban issues. The main message the director wanted to convey to the audience is how American suburbia has its pros and cons, yet is a political force to be reckoned with, as well as a growing, positive place American citizens are eager to continue living in. The concept of urban sprawl has become a popular issue and concern for sustainability as well as politically, ethically, and socially. Concern over the issues urban sprawling creates has continued to grow.
Anderson begins the section by explaining that there are two separate cultures in inner-city neighborhoods. The first are the “decent” this group is defined by commitment to “middle-class values,” (101). However, they are not mainstream in that they
Gentrification is "the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents." “It is a word which gets used a lot these days in regards to certain Houston neighborhoods, especially in some Inner Loop areas that were once considered rough parts of town.” One example of gentrification in the Houston is area is Montrose, due to the fact that the neighborhood uses to not be like it is now where it’s the lesbian and gay community. Each day there is more and more that joins the community. The Heights and Fourth Ward are two more towns in history that can be called gentrification.
While Richard Florida doesn’t believe neighborhoods need to develop the same cohesion it traditionally has, I still feel business should develop relationships with residents to obtain their business if they want to survive in a “creative class” world. The opportunities to help strengthen the neighborhood are available and most are economical and would not require great resources or capital. The affordability of this neighborhood can provide the “American Dream” for many and should be incorporated by local neighborhood leaders when looking at opportunities in the area.
In order to understand our statistical data, we must first accurately grasp the definitions of gentrification and displacement. Gentrification means a demographic or physical change that conforms to the middle class. The financial definition of middle class means that a single individual or household makes between $50k-120k annually. Uniquely, displacement is the removal of something or someone by something else that takes their place. In our case, looking at gentrification in the San Francisco area within the last 10 years will possibly birth an explanation as to why Artist displacement is/was on the rise.
Other scholars have documented that when communities go through preservation periods, this may also be followed by reinvestment and gentrification (Lees et al. 2013). However, wealthy people do not just go around with the intention of displacing families in communities. Besides greedy landowners, there are other mechanisms that factor into gentrification and displacement. Be it a vibrant ethnic culture, a booming art scene, or trendy restaurants, creative factors that welcome diversity attract outside community members to either participate or invest (Florida 2003). Even if heritage, art, and restaurants may have been created for current residents, people with more financial mobility are able to participate in cultural consumption at their
In 2008, I moved to an apartment in Rockaway Park located in Far Rockaway. I’ll admit, the neighborhood was far from attractive when I first arrived. The rumor mills stirred up a storm suggesting that Far Rockaway was well… “Rough around the edges” for a lack of a better term. Working on Riker’s Island, most of our patients who reside in Queens often came from Far Rockaway, thereby confirming the rumors that the town was riddled with crime, infested with drugs and plagued with anything one might consider rebellious or unscrupulous were true. And on my first day, I got lost and winded up surrounded by… you guessed it, The Projects.
An Estimated 40% live below the poverty line. The city contains homeless street kids, piracy, pollution, crime, and 100,000 street vendors. At the same time the rich live in gated communities, houses with rooftop swimming pools. Many different lives just yards away.
Gentrification is the process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste. Real Estate investors usually take low-income places that they feel have a chance to prosper economically, and turn them into areas that attract the middle and upper class workers. In doing so they feel like the low-income areas will be safer and more appealing, attracting more people to visit and live there. An improvement to a poor district sounds beautiful, but is gentrification as great as it’s sought out to be? Many residents have their doubts about gentrification due to the idea that the costs of their living will go up and they will be driven out of their neighborhoods.
