Following an issue repeatedly brought up in the blog, most recently in So how are things living in the hood?
AngelSil has an interesting post on gentrification based on her personal experiences.
Point Of View did a special on gentrification called Flag Wars.
"Change is constant in modern city life. So what do we mean by "gentrification?" How does it happen? Who wins and who loses? What comes next? Writer and urbanist Benjamin Grant explains."
NPR also had a story on the subject
"Talk of the Nation, April 26, 2005 · Poor people lose out when America's city centers go from urban blight to neighborhood chic -- or so goes much conventional wisdom. But new research challenges that idea, and suggests that everybody wins. We examine the costs and benefits of gentrification."
If you are interested in seeing Flag Wars, USF's main library has a copy. If you are not a student or faculty, you can go up to the 6th floor and use the catalog to find it (HT177.C65 F53 2003), then sit down at one of the VHS players and watch it. The only thing you can't do without a library card is check it out and take it home.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a very relevant film.
Loved the Atlanta Story... It makes me want to go. I have seen the Flying Buscuit in Midtown. Everyone says it is great, never went.
ReplyDeleteI honestly feel that most residents, new and old, believes that the direction of our neighborhood is going in the right direction, with the exception of those that break the law, the drug dealers, the prostitutes, the lazys that refuse to mow, or want to collect cars and trash, etc. In the end, all will win. We had a neighbor, that refused to mow their lawn, threw beer bottles across the street, parked all over their yard, and much more. They finally sold their home, and moved to Sulphur Springs. Don't feel bad though, she made almost $50,000 on the sale of her home. Now the home has been rehab, is one of the most beautiful homes on the block. So everyone wins.
She got a new house, all new furniture and is happy living in a safer home. I get a beautiful home to look at and don't have to pick up beer bottles, and the city gets increased revenue thru higher property taxes. How is this a bad thing?
Maybe I'm not understanding you correctly. Who is the "she" in the last paragraph? are you saying that the formerly slobby person now lives in a clean new house, and if so, why did they change all of a sudden?
ReplyDeleteI suspect that the dirty beer bottle throwing people are who moved to my neighborhood (the Springs), which is a bad thing. There are a preponderance of people like this in my hood (thankfully, they are in the minority, but they really stand out), and I don't want them in my hood either!
I know slobby people need to live somewhere, and I don't want to take a Not In My Backyard Approach, but what the hell do you do about the horrible filthy people who trash every place that live, turn the grass to dirt, and junk up all the property within a 2-mile radius? There is a place on River Cove that is absolutely disgusting and has had a succession of gross people for the past 3 years that I have lived in my house. I have to pass this place everyday and it is not just some non-code-abiding fixer-upper, but a dirt-covered white building, dirt yard, visibly dirty multiple kids and visibly dirty parents. they have steadily increased the filth factor since they moved in. I think that the property is owned by the white Mercedes-driving wealthy looking woman that I saw doing something with a fence there between renters. Obviously she (or whoever owns it) is a slumlord. So frustrating!
The previous tenants were a bunch of kids of indeterminate age and a old woman in a wheelchair. After a while I stopped seeing the kids pushing her to Kmart or KnK. Then the wheelchair was out front in the dirt yard. Then I started seeing the kids in the yard on school days when I went to work. At Xmas I saw a kid puking on the front step, apparently drunk. Finally I called DCF. They moved out several months later to be replaced by the fine folks who are there now.
So now you know my neighbor horror story.
Yes, the "She" I was referring to is the same person. She left most of her garbage in the house when she left to be thrown out by the new owners. So now, she can start the cyle again, tear up the new home as she has done in the past.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the "Dirty" people. The city of Tampa is a bunch of whimps that should all be fired. STARTING WITH CURTIS LANE!!!!!!!! The mayor is an ignorant fool if she does not do this. I suspect, she will wait until a month or two before re-election and then fire him. Stand on stage and say "See Tampa, I told you I am committed to Code and cleaning the city". I wish there was someone with enough guts and clout to run against her and stomp her ass. Unfortunately, I think she will end up running and winning again, putting Tampa deeper in debt and even dirtier. If code would do their jobs, Tampa would eventually clean up. Could you imagine having Chief Hogues personality and "gettem done" attitude at the helm of the Code office? Wow, Tampa would be clean in less than a year.
Here is a question to ponder... If Mayor Guiliano in NY could clean a city the size of NY in less than 4 years, Why can't Tampa get it's act together.