tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863581843088370950.post6722162416618541347..comments2024-03-09T02:19:45.780-05:00Comments on BlawgConomics: A Little Bit of DC Around the WorldJosh Sturtevanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00080334341099916281noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863581843088370950.post-60625760253796171842013-06-21T09:34:20.957-04:002013-06-21T09:34:20.957-04:00Thanks for the comment Anon.
Detroit is a great ...Thanks for the comment Anon. <br /><br />Detroit is a great example of where both the white flight and gentrification slurs have come into play over the past twenty or so years. I am reminded of the title of one of my favorite chapters in one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors; Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire (in The Hobbit by Tolkien for reference). <br /><br />However, I think that it is more complicated than just wondering where white folks want to live - which is of course a complicated enough question in and of itself, and has been since Europeans began the genocide of the Native Americans (not that I am conflating, or even comparing, gentrification to genocide - merely pointing out that this is a long-standing and complicated issue).<br /><br />It is more complicated than that because in some areas it is whites and hispanics. Sometimes it is more a question of socioeconomic status than race. It implicates certain threads of the immigration question in other places. <br /><br />It also reminds one that certain government policies to shift the burgeoning middle class population to the suburbs during the baby boom (through highways and mortgage tax policies and permissions) have had an artificial impact on where people lived in the first place. It is a reminder that today's twenty- and thirty- somethings who grew up in those suburbs their parents were shifted to by those policies, finding them boring, want a different lifestyle.<br /><br />It is also a personal question for me. I currently live in a predominantly African American neighborhood. And I know that the population of my building has turned over considerably in the past 10 years, and that the population a block away hasn't. And I am pretty sure there are some who don't appreciate that. <br /><br />I was in a similar situation a few years back when I lived in Williamsburg, in Brooklyn (a few years before it was trendy enough for its restaurants to show up in fancy magazines). There, it was first generation Italians I was displacing. Similar to my situation now, most people were very friendly, but there were some who viewed me as an outsider.<br /><br />Like so many other topics presented on the site, I am better equipped to note that this topic is notable that to provide an answer. But I do appreciate the prompt.<br /><br />JoshJosh Sturtevanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00080334341099916281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863581843088370950.post-22317458074211984882013-06-12T19:15:47.898-04:002013-06-12T19:15:47.898-04:00Curious about your view of the article. It strikes...Curious about your view of the article. It strikes me that when Whites leave urban areas, it is denounced as "White flight." When they move back, it is denounced as "gentrification." Are they obliged to simply stay put?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com