Monday, April 17, 2023

Gentrification

ART 3170 Civic Engagement: Social Issues "Action" Project

Gentrification: For Better or For Worse for The Community 

by Oskar Gabriel-Vazquez


Civic Engagement: (according to the New York Times) "Working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference." In my own words, civic engagement is a large engagement within a large group of people who have their own reasons why they engage with each other and discuss and engage in topics based on issues in the general public or worldwide ones, old and modern. In the process of trying to make a difference that can help a community, there are times when we can talk about issues to other individuals who have problems and aren't aware of what is happing in certain communities or might need more knowledge of occurrences that are happening around them. One of these I will be talking about gentrification, as it is an ongoing issue within different communities, specifically those from the lower class. 

Gentrification

    The definition of gentrification is "the transformation of neighborhoods from low value to high value. This change has the potential to cause displacement of long-time residents and businesses." (CDC). The conversation of gentrification has been on the minds of many people, especially those who live in ghetto areas, with low income due to unfortune circumstances that some might resolve soon or later, or other reason relating to other personal issues that are hard to get out of. It gets worse when someone who is not part of the neighborhood, the community, buys off an apartment building or an old property at a low cost to then use it for their own gain that at times doesn't help the people in the neighborhood that they're in as it affects the social connections that have been formed for decades in most places. 
    This change happening in many neighborhoods doesn't help out many people who have low income, especially people who have a family that needs to be taken care of. When they can't afford the new rental prices put by the new owner, families might need to leave and move somewhere else that is affordable, and it is more difficult when they are kicked out as the new owner wants to renovate the rooms to be rented for a higher price from its original cost. Even though some places need change in architecture, social interactions, and a lot of aid on social needs like jobs and affordable housing, the individuals who come in many disparaged places only for individual profit that only benefits them.   

My Experience

I came upon this subject because I've seen many people, especially people who are part of the minority group who live in poor neighborhoods who have family members, and the increase in prices for almost everything that is necessary to everyone's livelihood, especially a home, is one the factors that makes this subject matter very important. My family are also witnesses of this as well and each of them have their own perspective of the problem, like my brother who works around Downtown Los Angeles who everyday sees the changes and consequences that gentrification bring.

What it looks like


Image from libarts.source.colostate.edu/foods-contributions-to-gentrification-are-focus-of-new-book-co-edited-by-csu-prof/
    If anyone enters a neighborhood, they might notice some differences in it as some buildings look more modern or different from the buildings that look run downed surrounding them. Changes made in a neighborhood makes gentrification more noticeable and it tears apart the neighborhood and its community of what it once was as some of these changes are made for profit from those who buy the properties. Even though some of these neighborhoods are not taken care of and some might not be safe to live in, there are some individuals who are trying to make ends meet with whatever they have, whether it be their home or their job(s) they have to work in to gain a decent amount of income, especially when trying to take care of family members. 

Many familiar places in Los Angeles like the Crenshaw area are showing a lot of changes in their neighborhood as there more condos and other apartment complexes being built near older buildings as homeless population is becoming worse, affecting the community severally, as shown of the images I took from the area. There's a new complex on La Cienega Blvd that has been built recently, with a Whole Foods Market in the first floor. It is coinvent but it is not convenient for the neighborhood as it only benefits individuals who can afford a room in the building and can also afford the food that is being sold in the market as it is a place that sells steep priced groceries. 


As shown in the image on the left, the rent has been going for the last few years all the way up to the year 2019. This is not only significant because this data was collected and added up before the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, but it is also significant as it tells us about the increases in pricing that started to happen in the mid 2010s even though gentrification started before the turn of the millennium, providing a reason that might explain why there are some people living in the streets or there are many headlines about families trying to find a home they can afford.  




Scene From Boyz N the Hood- "It's Called Gentrification."

This conflict that is affecting hundreds of people in low-income communities have been aware of this for a long time, knowing fully well that those who come to buy the property don't care for the people, especially if they are part of the minority, greatly ignored and left to die by the high classes. In John Singleton's film Boyz N the Hood, Laurence Fishburne's character, "Furious", explains what gentrification is and how it can be avoided, especially when many people in their community, specifically young black men, are killing each other in the streets. It would not benefit them if someone who aren't black would come in their neighborhood, control the living conditions and make their living conditions worse as they might not understand or even care about them.

Those from the community and how they are affected

There are many residents that have been affected by gentrification, many of whom are in the minority who grew up in poor conditions and might have also come from other countries like immigrants from Latin America and their family members. Young or old, many have witnessed changes that affect their neighborhood or even they themselves who might not afford to move out based on their circumstances. 


Luciano: Luciano is a father who has been working for years to provide for his family as much has he can and still is. In the fall of 2019, he was notified that he and his family had to look for another place to live as someone has bought the apartment he was living in and wanted to renovate the room his family was living in which greatly affected their decision making of where they are now going to go that offers an affordable price. Not only has gentrification affect him and his family but is also able to notice beyond his experience, as he found a placed that has been renovated that likely had residence like him living there before.


Enrique: "The cost of living is high that rent money has become a high priority to earn, especially those who come from different cultural backgrounds who came to this country for opportunities, with some working hard that they can open their own small businesses." Enrique has been living in his neighborhood his whole life and has seen the changes happening for the past decade and up to now, even more as he works in an area where old buildings are being bought, seeing everything he knew before being taken away, and are renovated into a different business, like coffee shops or other stores that sell necessities that only few can afford. 

Possible Solutions

Even though this has been an ongoing issue for the past decades that won't leave any time soon, the community can still do something about it even though it might not be much. One solution is to spread awareness in a honest and direct way so people can notice the issue, not just by looking around their environment. When it comes to individuals who have low income, people can form organizations to help them get back on their feet and not have them suffer being homeless or have food insecurity. Or can also talk about affordable housing, a system that should "shift more of its resources to promoting homeownership as a stabilizing mechanism in gentrifying neighborhoods" (Kriesberg). Communicating with different communities who are affected by gentrification is a great way to learn and teach others about it, as being aware can bring everyone together to form more solutions.

Works cited

CDC. “Healthy Places.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/healthtopics/gentrification.htm#:~:text=Gentrification%20is%20a%20housing%2C%20economic,in%20previously%20run%2Ddown%20neighborhoods. 

Kriesberg, Joe, and MACDC. “Strategies for Responding to Gentrification.” Strategies for Responding to Gentrification | Joint Center for Housing Studies, 4 June 2018, https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/strategies-for-responding-to-gentrification.

New York Times, “The Definition of Civic Engagement.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 7 July 2003, https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/ref/college/collegespecial2/coll_aascu_defi.html?scp=2&sq=The%2520Engagement&st=cse.

Singleton, John, director. Boyz n the Hood. Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment, 1991. 











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