Quote:
Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright
^^^ It's not leased until the ink is dry, surely as someone involved in the office market you know that.
And it's not at all racist to resist gentrification because "it changes the fabric of our neighborhood"? That's just code for "we don't like that white hipsters are moving here". Any statement that revolves around race inherently has racist overtones. One can't say "I want my community to stay intact" if your entire community is a single race and not be racist. That's basically saying "if you aren't like us, you are not allowed".
I just find comments like the second paragraph of your post disturbing. Do we really think that "Lakeview is for the gays" and that it should stay that way forever? For a set of voices that is demanding more diverse incomes in our neighborhoods, the anti-gentrification crowd seems to have a huge problem with more diverse sexual orientations, races, religious backgrounds, etc. And yes, when a white yuppie moves into a majority gay neighborhood, that neighborhood becomes more diverse. When a white hipster moves into a neighborhood that is 98% hispanic, that area becomes more diverse.
Also the whole "I don't like the new neighbors" reason for moving is nothing new in Chicago nor is specifically linked to skin color. It's just a part of the lifecycle of cities. Just look at how the Germans and Irish pushed the Protestant old guard of Chicago progressively further north and away from the city center throughout the 1800's. This is what happens when new immigrant groups arrive and it's not about old Polish people being racist, it's about everyone being "racist" and preferring to live near people with the same background as them. The one group that is the clear exception to this normal immigration and assimilation process is African Americans, but that's a whole 'nother wall of text that we shouldn't even get into.
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Correct, that is nothing new to Chicago or any other corner of America for that matter. MY point, that I obviously didn't articulate very well, is that the Czechs and Pols left Pilsen because, according to my 88 year old grand mother sister, they didn't like that the Mexicans were moving in. Because they were racist. They wanted the hood to stay the same. Birds of a feather flock together.
The hipster moving in to Pilsen and the Mexicans moving out is different. The hipsters moving in are making everything more expensive. That is the cause the exodus of the current residents. Not the fact that their new neighbors are of different ethnicities. As we should all be aware, hipsters come from all different backgrounds.
The definition of gentrification according to dictionary.com is the the buying and renovation of houses and stores in deteriorated urban neighborhoods by upper- or middle-income families or individuals, thus improving property values but often displacing low-income families and small businesses. The definition is not moving because your neighbors are now a different ethnicity than you. This was my larger point. That the things you were pointing to in your initial post are two totally different unrelated situations.
And to eases your nerves, no I do not think that Lakeview or any neighborhood is just for gays or just for any one single group of people. I wish all neighborhoods were completely ethnically, culturally, financially, etc. etc. diverse. I think you confused my statement with a personal belief? Maybe? I dunno. Any way, I was just using that as an example. Discriminated against minorities are going to be most inclined to stick together and I thought Boystown and homosexuals was an easy example. You could easily insert any other group and hood into my statement and it would mean the same thing.
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It counts... 5 years my junior (damn)
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