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3686175-400050Julia TempleOctober 16, 2016 English 1001: Essay Final DraftGomez Salsa was bustling with people. It was around noon on a hot May Day, and the hole-in-the-wall taco stand was bustling with customers. Word around town was that this was the new go-to place to get tacos and turtle shells. I got my bag of warm tacos and looked around for a place to sit down and eat. I started walking towards the downtown area of Cincinnati, and almost immediately the area that was so pleasant and bustling with professional types became an area with budget liquor stores, empty shop fronts and check cashing businesses. I hurried through, not making eye contact with the homeless man begging for money on the sidewalks. Finally, I reached the downtown and riverfront where I was again surrounded by men in suits and women picking their Flying Pig race packets up from the Duke Energy Convention Center. I sat down at a park bench and dug into my taco.Looking back to May, I realize that my whole experience that day was affected by the shifts in the neighborhoods of Cincinnati, also known as gentrification. This movement has affected many people within almost every city, and numerous studies have been done on the effects of gentrification on both the physical neighborhoods of cities and on the populations of people that live in them. Many people are opposed to gentrification, but there are different factors to consider when it comes to such a controversial topic. As I have learned more about gentrification and its effect on Cincinnati, I realized that if not for the gentrification of some parts of Over-the-Rhine, I would have never gone to that area of town, and most likely Gomez Salsa would not even be in business. In my opinion, the gentrification of Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati has been a positive development socially, economically and culturally. That being said, there are favorable as well as unfavorable aspects to almost any kind of change, and this being a big change there has been much controversy surrounding the topic. Gentrification is not a new concept, and has been both celebrated and protested in cities across the country. One example of this was in Brooklyn, New York. Construction workers were called to a dilapidated brownstone which had been abandoned. City officials were afraid that drug addicts and homeless people were using the building to live in, and they decided to have it demolished. The ambitious city planners had plans for the area, and wanted to move more prosperous populations into an area that was a predominantly lower income African American community. However, when they went to demolish the brownstone, there was a group of protestors who were against the demolition of the building, but instead wanted to keep the integrity of the area and gentrify the area instead, redoing all of the empty and dilapidated brownstones and restoring them to their former glory for young trendy professionals to purchase. The protestors were not the predominantly working-class people that lived in the area, but rather they were professionals who were part of a council called the Brooklyn Housing Association, or BHA. This group was interested in keeping the historic feel of the area while renovating the interior of buildings and making it into more of a place that middle class families would like to live. In The American Historical Review, Osman describes how the BHA restored the neighborhood back to its former glory, and I immediately connected it with the changes in Over-the –Rhine, and the organization that has popped up in Cincinnati to help gentrify the area. This protest was the beginning of movements all across the country to keep older buildings and renovate them to meet the changing needs of the area, and hopefully attract more moneyed, professional people to the area. However, there are many things to consider before investing time and money into a project like this.One thing that has to be dealt with when gentrifying an area is where will the current residents of the area go? The simple answer that many pro-gentrifiers will say is that they will just move neighborhoods; in Cincinnati perhaps from Over-the-Rhine to Price Hill. By the simple economics of supply and demand, rents will rise as housing prices increase and a whole new demographic of people will move into their neighborhoods. This can cause clashes between two different cultures and often there are conflicts between police and African Americans in those areas. In London, there were many conflicts and much controversy about the changing dynamic of the neighborhoods; at this time the term gentrification was not coined. However, there were protests between the groups of people interested in the area and even between them and police, as outlined in Joe Moran’s “Early Cultures of Gentrification in London”. This phenomenon can be translated directly from London to some of the problems we are facing in Cincinnati presently. Protests have occurred in Cincinnati that are similar to those in London: A population of people feel that they are being pushed out against their will and decide to push back. I am not saying that the police-race issue was caused by gentrification, but that there is a correlation between police brutality and minority groups. I think this fosters even more distain on the part of the socio-economically deprived when they are forced out of the area that, often, their families have lived in for generations. In this case, gentrification also makes it harder for lower income families to find places to live, which makes the price for even low priced housing to increase throughout the entire city. This ripple effect is good for landlords or homeowners but preys on the vulnerable who frequently struggle to pay rent even without a price increase. However, I think that people need to change as times change as well, and as certain neighborhoods become gentrified, locals need to be prepared for change and adjust accordingly. It was no surprise that their housing prices would go up as the area became fashionable, and gentrifying an area takes years and years, and considerable financial risk for investors. In that amount of time, people who can’t afford to live in that area have ample time to find new accommodations. These people’s complaints are not completely valid given the amount of time they had to adjust. Many Americans are denied access to the most desirable neighborhoods due to budgetary constraints, and those who live in Over-the-Rhine are no different. Another consideration while talking about gentrification is the positive impact that it has on the local economy. Businesses like Gomez Salsa, which are usually locally owned, pop up in more affluent neighborhoods. And because the people who live in these neighborhoods usually have more money to spend then the previous inhabitants (before gentrification), they have a chance to thrive. This is good for the economy of the whole city, and can even make it a cool tourist attraction. For example, my friend Alex told me that Gomez Salsa was the place to go after a night on the town. However, if he didn’t live in that neighborhood, he most likely would not go out of his way just for a taco. But because he is a young professional with a large disposable income, he frequents the business regularly. An article in the New York Times, The Pros and Cons of Gentrification-Room for Debate, Moss outlines in more detail the economic effects of gentrification on a city, but the overall consensus is that it has overwhelmingly positive effects on local economies. Another positive to gentrification is that the crime rate drops once an area is gentrified. As said in “Gentrification and Crime”, when low and high income agents compete for space, the dynamics of the crime in certain neighborhoods changes. Drug use, violence, and property crimes are higher in socially deprived areas. In Washington D.C. for example, an article by Garance Frankie-Ruta (The Politics of the Urban Comeback: Gentrification and Culture in D.C.), it is clear that the city’s crime has gone down significantly since the gentrification of some neighborhoods. The same principle can be applied to Cincinnati. It seems like crime rates decrease once urban professionals have taken occupancy of rehabbed properties. Even five years ago, I would never have walked through Over-the-Rhine on my own, or even taken my dog to Washington Park. Recently, I visited the newly renovated park and rode the newly opened streetcar, which was an overwhelmingly positive experience. There has been so much progress made in just a few short years. Also tying in with the area becoming safer is the increased security that more prosperous residents have in their homes and businesses. Overall, I think that people need to look at both sides of gentrification. As with every divisive issue, there are multiple perspectives. Is one group of people more important than others? In the case of gentrification in Brooklyn, the people with more wealth seem to end up on top, but was that because local government sided with them based on their wealth or that they used their greater resources to speed ahead of those who had opposing views. Are trendy urban professionals more visionary, or are they simply seduced by wiley investors? When it comes to Cincinnati, there are benefits and disadvantages to gentrification. For example, how do the people in Price Hill feel about gentrification? They are affected: Long term residents of Over-the-Rhine, no longer able to afford the market value rents in their neighborhood. They, I imagine, could feel negatively towards newcomers invading their neighborhood, possibly adding more crime, violence, and poverty to an already deprived area. But to the prosperous professionals, it is nothing but positive. They get a unique, refurbished dwelling with character, along with restaurants and sights nearby, all with being just a few miles from city center. To them, they work hard and ought to be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor. And to many, like me, who don’t live in the city, it is nice to be able to go to Over-the-Rhine and feel safe to enjoy all the new amenities.Having researched gentrification and exploring it firsthand, I think that it is mainly a positive thing. There are those who might say that I am for it because of my race and privileged status, but I think that the core of our city- the downtown- should be taken care of and well managed, and I think that the urban business professionals bring more to the economy. I think that with gentrification underway in Cincinnati, the city as a whole will benefit more, and it will bring more local businesses and different cultures to our city. Higher taxes paid on higher property values will benefit the city as a whole. Though it has some negative drawbacks, such as people being displaced because of higher housing prices, I think that overall more people benefit from gentrification than suffer from its consequences. However, if you asked someone displaced or made homeless by the effects of gentrification, they may have a whole other story to tell you. One that would not shine a positive light on the subject. It all depends on your perspective. Before and After of homes that have been gentrified:MLA Works Cited:1. Self, R. "SULEIMAN OSMAN. The Invention of Brownstone Brooklyn: Gentrification and the Search for Authenticity in Postwar New York." The American Historical Review 117.4 (2012): 1257-258. Web. 14 Sept. 2016.This peer reviewed journal article was about the effects of gentrification in Brooklyn, NY. It seemed unbiased and explored the pros and cons of gentrification. I used it as a resource to get background on gentrification.2.Moss, Jerimiah. "The Pros and Cons of Gentrification - Room for Debate ..." The New York Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2016.This short article gave a general overview about what gentrification is and the effects on different populations. It seemed to be up to date and looked at all sides of the issue. I used it for multiple viewpoints. 3.Ruta, Garance. "The Politics of the Urban Comeback." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2016.This article went into the different aspects of gentrification and how they affect different populations. It seemed unbiased. I used it to broaden my knowledge about all the impacts gentrification has on populations of people. 4."Gomez Salsa." Gomez Salsa. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2016.This is the website where I got some information on the Taco stand that operates in Over-the-Rhine. It had information about the history of the place and the area. I used it as an example of a small business that opened because of gentrification in Cincinnati.5. Moran, J. "Early Cultures of Gentrification in London, 1955 1980." Journal of Urban History 34.1 (2007): 101-21. Web. 6 Oct. 2016.In this journal I learned about the cultural effects of gentrification in London. This concept also applies to other cities. I used it to write about the cultural effects of gentrification. 6. Ocejo, Richard E. "The Early Gentrifier: Weaving a Nostalgia Narrative on the Lower East Side." City & Community 10.3 (2011): 285-310. Web.This piece was about gentrification that took place in the lower east side of NYC. I used it to compare how the culture of a neighborhood can be effected by gentrification and then went into how I thought it might affect people in Cincinnati. I thought this piece was important because it explores conflicts between different groups and explores some positives as well as negatives to gentrification. 7. O'sullivan, Arthur. "Gentrification and Crime." Journal of Urban Economics 57.1 (2005): 73-85. Web.This journal article was about how gentrification affects crime in different cities, and particularly how crime rates shift from neighborhood to neighborhood. I used it to back up my point that crime rates drop in neighborhoods that have been gentrified. I think it is important because it is a big issue that people try to solve by revitalizing neighborhoods. ................
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