Listening to some people talk about the changes in East Liberty. What do you think? (Pittsburgh: middle-class, 2014)

[gg]

The other day, I was listening to a group of people discuss the changes in East Liberty. I found it really interesting. They were discussing how horrible it is that Google is here and Apple may be opening up some little office and the fact that this area will at some point be "all white" and they said, "that is the plan". I found that really offensive. It is if they were stating so-called black people can't get a job at Google or Apple? Talk about being racist! I guess I just didn't get it. If anyone wants a job at one of those places regardless of skin tone, I suspect they could get it with a lot of hard work, or if they are lucky enough to have great talent from a young age in computers. I don't understand how people can simply say, the plan is to kick out all dark skinned people because of a type of industry moving in. Isn't that the worst kind of racism? To assume someone of a darker skin color isn't smart enough to be employed at Google or Apple? Really?

[SteelCityRising]

I'm still awaiting an answer from an African-American man who posted via social media yesterday "...for white people..." in regards to an article about more high-end housing coming to a new high-rise proposed on Centre Avenue near Whole Foods. I'm a "white people", and I by no means can afford the "new Pittsburgh", either, so I'm wondering why African-Americans get to make the ongoing rapid gentrification of the East End a race thing. If white people can't make sweeping generalizations about blacks, then why can the opposite still occur?

[eschaton]

East Liberty will never be all white. Currently 38% of the housing units in the neighborhood are still income-assisted to some extent. I expect that will drop still further to some extent when Penn Plaza is redeveloped and a lot of the East Liberty Gardens residents are moved to Larimer. My guess is the neighborhood will be in the range of 55% black in 2020, and 45% black by 2030. It isn't going to become less than 30% black unless they start building a crapload of market-rate buildings the size of the Highland Building.

I was at a kid's birthday party last weekend, and one of the dads happened to be a senior staff person with ELDI. We talked about the neighborhood for quite awhile. He told me that, quite ironically, the people behind the "black homes matter" campaign were people ELDI got homes for as part of the housing cooperative set up around Boreland Gardens.

Let's be clear though - statistically speaking it's quite unlikely that Google employees will be black. So they do have a bit of a point here.

[selltheburgh]

Apple is setting up in the Strip, not East Lib. They don't know what they are talking about.

[PghYinzer]

It seems as if someday people will identify more with being a "have" or a "have-not" rather than skin color or ethnicity. The inequality and the disappearance of the middle class are going to bring about some stark changes in the future, and it should be interesting to see how it plays out.

As for East Liberty, it's a little outside of the area where I live/work/play but I think the changes over there are great. Yes all of the new construction is high end, but that means that in time, the older places now that demand a higher price because there are still few options, will be downgraded in price and become the new lower-market rentals. No need to build new lower-end housing, just build lots of new high-end housing and let the market drive the older units price down.

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

If white people can't make sweeping generalizations about blacks, then why can the opposite still occur?

Because of the double-standards in American culture today that exacerbate race-relation problems in our country, driven by the self-servers of the pot-stirring media and racially-charged "activists".

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by eschaton

ELet's be clear though - statistically speaking it's quite unlikely that Google employees will be black. So they do have a bit of a point here.

How is this Pittsburgh's fault, or my fault as a white person for that matter? I know plenty of African-Americans who have gone on to college to pursue better career opportunities than I could ever hope to achieve as a white person. If not enough African-Americans in Pittsburgh are applying to engineering programs at CMU, then, of course, not enough of them are going to be working for Google here.

[PghYinzer]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

How is this Pittsburgh's fault, or my fault as a white person for that matter? I know plenty of African-Americans who have gone on to college to pursue better career opportunities than I could ever hope to achieve as a white person. If not enough African-Americans in Pittsburgh are applying to engineering programs at CMU, then, of course, not enough of them are going to be working for Google here.

It's not your fault, or Pittsburgh's fault, or even Google's fault. I don't think these people were looking to assign blame, but rather just pointing out that Google is not going to be some bastion of employment for anyone other than white males.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by tyovan4

Because of the double-standards in American culture today that exacerbate race-relation problems in our country, driven by the self-servers of the pot-stirring media and racially-charged "activists".

Asian males in their late-20's in this city are blowing me out of the water socioeconomically. Where's the "Asian privilege" complaints from my fellow Caucasian males? There are none. Why? We realize that one's future success in life is a direct correlation of best utilizing one's talents to make good life choices. I've made a lot of terrible life choices, hence why I now struggle. If I'm priced out of the East End in five years, then am I going to resent Asians? No. Why, then, are so many black people in the East End resenting whites?

There's a lot of racial discourse in this city---from ALL sides. It's not just a "white people are terrible to blacks" thing as a few on here are soon going to pop in to blurt out. I'm inclined to agree with PGHYinzer, however, that as the middle-class is shrinking more and more with each passing year that we're going to eventually have fewer race wars and more class wars.

[stburr91]

Originally Posted by PghYinzer

It seems as if someday people will identify more with being a "have" or a "have-not" rather than skin color or ethnicity. The inequality and the disappearance of the middle class are going to bring about some stark changes in the future, and it should be interesting to see how it plays out.

As for East Liberty, it's a little outside of the area where I live/work/play but I think the changes over there are great. Yes all of the new construction is high end, but that means that in time, the older places now that demand a higher price because there are still few options, will be downgraded in price and become the new lower-market rentals. No need to build new lower-end housing, just build lots of new high-end housing and let the market drive the older units price down.

Just understand that many people won't support plans that will drive property values downward. It's really hard to justify building many new units considering how little overall demand there is currently.