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Originally Posted by the urban politician
Great point. A good example is the Obama Presidential Library. Finally an investment that may improve property values and bring some tourism and $$ to the community and a vocal bunch of idiots are out in full force complaining about "gentrification" and wanting a "Community Benefits Agreement". Those same people probably whine and moan all day about "lack of investment" in their community.
Luckily they are overshadowed by the rest of the community there that mostly supports the project.
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Some of the neighborhood is actually for it so I'm not sure how good the example is, but it could work because there are enough people against it.
I'll give more examples though. People in Humboldt Park and Pilsen have vandalized and given crap to single, independently owned coffee shops because of what they apparently represent. Yet those same people complain about companies not wanting to put jobs in their area and downtown getting all the action. What company who might be seen as gentrifiers is going to be eager to go into that environment who knows about these things?
I mean I understand the position, but they are in a way contradicting themselves. The neighborhoods like this might be sheltered from easily getting a bunch of tech startup offices, but they aren't automatically safe from actual residential and retail gentrification especially if their areas are near the trains.
On another note, I have a friend who is a branch manager at a branch in Logan Square. He's told me the gentrification there has made millionaires out of some of the Mexican immigrants who moved to the area and bought property awhile ago. The long time residents who didn't purchase property ever might get the short end of the stick but apparently there's a bunch of long time residents who have made out very well. I have some friends in the area who have been there for awhile who are for gentrification because they know they'll have a nice payday on their house they own and also bring down the crime (neither are white and one grew up there since the 80s and 90s).
And I'm not all for gentrification, but some of the ways which people talk about it are interesting.