Gentrification is the process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste. This inherently requires the lower class to be forced out as they can not afford the "middle-class taste[s]." A striking example of this is occurring all over Silicon Valley.
A neighborhood that is often talked about is the Mission. Ethnic communities that have made up the culture of the Mission are being pushed out due to the rise of house and rent prices. Rents are being raised from an established price of 900$ a month for a one-bedroom to $1800-2300 a month. Additionally, other residents are receiving eviction notices. The large effect is the diminishing numbers of the Latino population. The strong culture of food music and language is becoming less prevalent. This is discussed in the documentary when they talk about murals being painted over. Which symbolizes the previous culture being glossed over and covered by the new population moving in.
Closer to home gentrification can be seen in the form of
the San Antonio Village. What once was a collection of strip malls home to local business such as Milk Pail and Dittmers has turned into a Post Modernism multi-use mall and housing complex. While in this case, the local businesses were either able to move or sell out it is undebatable that more expensive businesses have moved in and housing prices have risen.
Should we view this as bad? Or is change inevitable so we should do nothing? If we should try to slow this process what measures should be put in place?
It is true that the incoming start ups and tech companies are kicking out those that have been previously living in San Francisco for decades. Even in San Jose this is happening, and there are protests advocating for the relocation of Google as many people are being forced out of their homes. Although this change is inevitable, I believe that we should put measures in place that offer some type of protection to those who are located in the center of tech start ups.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a similar blog post about this issue. I'm looking at the statistics from the UC Berkeley study and I was never aware of how high the displacement rates are. All along El Camino, we can see constructions of new apartment and retail complexes. Within the next couple of years, this area is going to look completely different. Not only are we increasing the number of residents, but we are increasing rent prices as well. Apartments in this area cost upwards of $1 million. I agree with Justin that although these changes are inevitable, and arguably beneficial, there should be measures in place that protect those that are being pushed out by incoming tech moguls.
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