Repost: brewsta brewsta book review of there goes the 'hood

The theme of Lance Freeman’s “there goes the ‘hood ” (a book based on gentrification in both Clinton Hill and Harlem) tries to capture and successfully explain how people feel when gentrification comes to their neighborhood, the impact of it and how these residents perceive the changes in their neighborhood. In addition, he argues that the indigenous people of these neighborhoods done t always react to gentrification according to some of the preconceived notions generally attributed to residents of in the area (pg3). In other words, gentrification can often times be viewed as a “knight in shining armor or an evil villain ready to destroy” (pg60).

Freeman noted in his observations that “A positive reaction to gentrification was a clear theme that emerged during my conversation with residents of Clinton Hill and Harlem” (pg60). “Some of the positive reactions were based on narrow economic self-interest”. This was mainly due to the fact that “in Clinton Hill, where many of the respondents were homeowners or cooperative owners, the escalating housing prices increased the return on the housing investment substantially” (pg60.)
Yet on the other hand he explains that
“the economic benefits of gentrification are unlikely to occur to many Harlem residents. In contrast, in Clinton Hill, where there is a substantial presence of black homeowners, the economic benefits are meaningful.. in recent years much has been made of the vast inequalities in wealth between blacks and whites. It has been pointed out that the disparity in wealth is much larger the income disparity and much of the difference has been laid at foot of unequal housing value” (pg61). This quote being about inequality in housing value based due to the dominant race of the neighborhood, made it easier for me to understand why gentrification would be welcomed in a predominantly black neighborhood, mainly because the housing value that is greatly needed by these residents increases in value due to the influx of middle class residents. But for those who can no longer afford to live in the area and are either one being forced to relocate due to displacement or two are simply being bought out by the people who are looking to move into the area, the benefits of the increase in housing value might not be an experience that they would have the fortune of having.
“Many residents appreciated the improvement in amenities and services .. the changes taking place in Clinton Hill and Harlem in some ways might be perceived as the normalization of commercial activities in these neighborhoods after decades of disinvestment”(pg.61-62).
Something that stood out to me was the overall acceptance of gentrifications in these neighborhoods. Apparently, ignoring the fact that both Harlem and Clinton Hill residents went through “urban renewal programs, the heroin plagues, the crack epidemic, and disinvestment” it’s no wonder people are acceptant to gentrification coming into their neighborhoods. Even though a strong numbers of people are opposing the movement, and are making statements like “If we keep sleepin’ in a few years won’t none of us livin’ in Harlem”(pg12).
The connection between this book
and the class reminds me of the discussion we had about gentrification in bush wick, when we spoke about white middle class people moving into the area and displacing the neighborhoods original residents. In addition this book also spoke about the commercial stores, better schools and the increasing amount of investment after all the years of disinvestment and being ignored by the government.