Gentrification 1

Arnaud Edjamian

Molloy College

Gentrification Paper

























Gentrification 2



Arnaud Edjamian

Professor Russo/Cullinan

Gotham: The New York Experience

Gentrification

In the early years of New York Citys history, between cholera epidemics and great
blizzards there were many forces at work that molded the city into the New York we all know
and love today. Among these forces is one in particular that sparks a significant amount of
controversy among many people. This controversial topic is termed Gentrification. Gentrification
is known as the rebuilding, or renewal of poorer communities. It usually causes a shift towards
increasing property values, wealthier businesses, residents and income. Depending on whom you
ask, Gentrification is either a magnificent begging to a new era of living, or unnecessary
destruction to an old era of living. Nonetheless, Smith explains how Gentrification as a term
itself is usually seen and used in a negative connotation There are few words in a New Yorkers
vocabulary that are as emotionally loaded as gentrification the advert began. Gentrification
means different things to different people, the Real Estate Board conceded, but In simple terms,
gentrification is the upgrading of housing and retail businesses in a neighborhood with an influx
generally of private investment. (Smith, 1996) This because of what gentrification eventually
causes to the communities that undergo it. But it is best that we explore both the positives as well
as the negatives of such.
How does Gentrification start? Well, like most things in life, it is sustained by a surge of
income. The process of gentrification usually starts by an initial investment effort (usually local
government) to jump start newer economic development, lower crime rates and attract newer
Gentrification 3

business. Although this may sound like a good thing, it has many adverse effects on the
community currently living there. The increase in more affluent business and residential
properties cause a growth in income but decrease in the size of families. The newer community
renovations exponentially increase the net worth of the community and when that occurs, slowly
but surely the community members that lived in that area prior to the beginning of the
gentrification era cannot pay the new taxes and higher rents and so they are forced to migrate to
other locations. New housing is generally occupied by better-off families who vacate their
previous, less spacious housing, leaving it to be taken by poorer occupants, and move out toward
the suburban periphery. In this way, decent housing filters down and is left behind for lower-
income families; the worst housing drops out of the market to abandonment or demolition.
(Smith, 1996) The migration of the lower income families allows people from higher classes in
the economic social pyramid to move into these newly gentrified areas. But some economist
would argue otherwise about gentrification. It is a contributor to the diversity, the great mosaic
of the city, the advert suggested; neighborhoods and lives blossom. If a modicum of
displacement inevitably results from a neighborhoods private market rehabilitation, suggests
the Board, We believe that it must be dealt with public policies that promote low- and
moderate-income housing construction and rehabilitation, and in zoning revisions that permit
retail uses in less expensive, side street locations.(Smith, 1996) These economist actually
believe that the enforcement of gentrification makes the communities more diverse by
introducing newer people to it and that they can make so that the implementation of their projects
actually result in less expensive environments.
Between the economist and the people undergoing Gentrification, it is a pretty sizable
debate. Great populations of these lower income people are artists. Artists have always made
Gentrification 4

major contributions to the areas that they dwell in culturally. When gentrification happens these
artist become displaced and the cultural authenticity is degraded whether the plans are to try to
keep a cultural theme in the newer areas being developed or not. Poverty areas (like Carole
Itters Strathcona) also offer cheaper rents, making a cultural virtue of economic necessity. In
contrast, areas, including areas formerly occupied by artists, lose their allure with redevelopment
even if heritage preservation or historical or cultural theming is part of the new landscape. (Ley,
2003) This evidence is relevant even in my experiences in Spanish Harlem (East Harlem) as we
took a tour around the neighborhood. Walking around you can see many cultural paintings and
drawings on buildings. These works of art were all made by the artist that lived there and they
were adding the authentic cultural touches to their community. In Spanish Harlem, there was
mural depicting a group of four or five old men sitting at a table on the side walk playing a game
of dominos. Our tour guide walked us to it and explained: Murals like these are important to our
community; the artists that put it up there do it for the community and the younger generations to
come. There are many children that walk by and ask what game are they playing in that picture
and when we explain that they men are playing dominos a brand new cultural learning
experience has been created for that child. But if corporations come and tear down our murals
and buildings, they also tear down our culture. (Luke the Peace Poet/Artist Educator) When
Gentrification happens not only is there a loss of old members to the community but there is also
a disconnect to the community from the remaining members of the community. An old area,
socially diverse, including poverty groups can be valorised as authentic, symbolically rich and
free from the commodification that depreciates the meaning of place. For the aesthetic
disposition, commodified locations, like commercialised art, are regarded as sterile, stripped of
meaning: theres nothing for me there.(Ley, 2003) This disconnect decreases the communitys
Gentrification 5

sense of togetherness and even though there are members that can keep up with all the changes
financially, they end up leaving because nothing feels the same as it use to.
In conclusion, Gentrification has always been an emotion evoking word to many people.
Gentrification has positive and negative effects that too often question whether the ends really
justify the means. It causes the destruction of old buildings but, the newer buildings put there to
replace them increase the property value of that area. Gentrification also causes the decrease in
crime and poverty because the influx of money into that area is funding better security and better
apartment complexes but, these things unfortunately come with a shinier price tag. Although
these negatives happen, there are positives that come with it and no matter how hard we try to
fight it; the fact is that basically all of New York was gentrified to become how it is today. The
only thing that can be done now to salvage what is left of these communities is to encourage the
coming together and fighting for the right to remain the same.





















Gentrification 6

Works Cited

Ley, D. (2003). Artists, Aestheticisation and the Field of Gentrification (12th ed., Vol. 40). New York:

Carfax Publishing.

Smith, N. (1996). The New Urban Frontier (1st ed., Vol. 1). London: Routledge.