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Unless you have some special talent, yes. It's the way of the world; nothing uniquely American about it.
... because there is potential for 7 billion individuals to all have “special talents” in the world ... ? ... that way everyone can have value ... and without special talent, an ordinary person is valueless ... great.
“Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of a cancer cell” - Edward Abbey
I guess this is where it depends on the location. Gentrification is primarily about urban centers becoming revitalized due to a lack of available housing/land beyond the current city limits. Seattle, San Francisco, and New York are prime examples because they are locations that had already extended to their limits in available land. Maybe growth was the wrong term to use, because I could even argue that these three cities actually show a lack of growth due to their restrictive nature or neglect by city managers to plan how to contain and manage the huge population booms they experienced leading to inadequate housing quantities.
Don't get me wrong; I've seen Seattle get ahead of itself in many ways and you have to be ready to go with the changes even if you feel that you lose out on some things. But thats what life is, you make some sacrifices to make it in the long run. I had to move out of Downtown Seattle which sucked, but I still got to start my own business with my partner and we live just out of the city with all the benefits of the new Seattle (huge client base, great restaurants, great public transportation and more).
I agree that growth isn't good just for the heck of it. My point was that revitalization is needed. You don't build a city block and just leave it for a hundred years without adapting to the population demographic or industry changes. Eventually people come and go. Businesses change hands and technology and the industries they created go out of style. It's going to happen eventually if you want a healthy and robust city that is working to keep up to date on meeting it's populations needs and looking out for the future trends that will allow it to maintain momentum, staying ahead so you don't end up like Detroit, Pittsburgh or any dead/dying one industry city.
It’s certainly better than being homeless. My main point was that we should be attracting highly educated and skilled people, and that who cares if they displace long time residents. That’s how capitolism works. Angelenos are the most entitled in this regard for some reason.
Since we're talking capitalism which is a three pronged concept of an upper class, a middle class, and a lower class for it to work effectively.. Tell me something.. in this beautiful gentrified world of yours who's going to work at the gas station, the grocery check out, teach at the local elementary, and so forth? The tech engineer isn't going to do that and neither is the hip lady that owns and runs the high end artisanal bread shop. The majority of the ones that get priced out of an area due to gentrification are the very ones that need to remain in that area to keep your scared capitalism engine churning and humming along.
Gentrification in California is really just balancing out the population and weeding out those who should’ve never been here to begin with. The ones complaining about being priced out should consider themselves lucky they were even alive during a time they can barely scrape by on rent. Living in one of the most desirable regions in the world was never meant to be “affordable”, and especially not cheap.
Statistics clearly prove that crime rates drop, businesses thrive more, and more people are engaged with the neighborhood when they feel more comfortable walking in the streets. This has absolutely nothing to do with race or ethnicity, gentrification is a social-economics related thing and there’s no shame in encouraging more of it. If you can’t keep up with the rat race of LA or the competitive market of the rest of California, then oh well, ethier make more money or live somewhere else like Arizona or Texas.
So many people want to move here but only few of those want to contribute something meaningful to society.
The middle class certainly seemed to be getting squeeze out and leaving for states like Az or TX.
On the other hand if you have little and play your cards right you may be able to take advantage of State and local assistance problems
I live in a gentrified beach community. The gas station attendents are either local surf bum kids who live with their parents or people who commute from cheaper inland communities. The same as they do for Ski Resort towns or other gentrified areas.
And to be totally honest, the majority of these jobs are going away very soon. Our local grocery cashiers, bank tellers, and gas station attendent workforce is already down 50-75% due to automation.
The only automation-proof jobs are very physically complicated professions like electricians and carpenters. That drives up the cost of home renovations or construction, but that--in turn--is supported by higher home values.
It's not really a matter of class warfare, but rather a sort of social natural selection. The communities that don't gentrify won't be able to afford/attract the most-skilled tradesmen, most-effective police/medical/fire, and thus the 1%-ers who want good services and low crime.
I agree with the premise that gentrification is "good" and blight/decay is "bad." It's clear that the influx of multi-millionairs into our town has elevated this previously rough blue-collar beach town to resort status. Compared to nearby towns that started with similar natural assets and populations, but now have poor schools and social structures because they missed out on the influx of wealthy people, it is eminently clear that gentrification is preferable to the alternative. There is nothing wrong with nearby towns, they have simply not been lifted as quickly by the same rising tide. They are better than they were, but they are not "as better" as our town.
It's also notable that these nearby disadvantaged communities recieve massive influxes of social spending. This helps make life better there, but it is still not on par with living in the gentrified town, because improvements provided by natural positive-feedback capitalistic economic forces far outstrip what the state can provide, even in times of prosperity and budget surpluses. While we can and should institute social programs to take the edge off the dog-eat-dog world, competition/evolution is the fundamental natural function of all living things, and you're not going to wholly reverse that force, or bring change to a halt, with legislation or pretty words.
... because there is potential for 7 billion individuals to all have “special talents” in the world ... ? ... that way everyone can have value ... and without special talent, an ordinary person is valueless ... great.
The subject was contribution, not the inherent worth of the human being. But, if you choose to be obtuse, have at it!
Gentrification in California is really just balancing out the population and weeding out those who should’ve never been here to begin with. The ones complaining about being priced out should consider themselves lucky they were even alive during a time they can barely scrape by on rent. Living in one of the most desirable regions in the world was never meant to be “affordable”, and especially not cheap.
Statistics clearly prove that crime rates drop, businesses thrive more, and more people are engaged with the neighborhood when they feel more comfortable walking in the streets. This has absolutely nothing to do with race or ethnicity, gentrification is a social-economics related thing and there’s no shame in encouraging more of it. If you can’t keep up with the rat race of LA or the competitive market of the rest of California, then oh well, ethier make more money or live somewhere else like Arizona or Texas.
So many people want to move here but only few of those want to contribute something meaningful to society.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tulemutt
... like money, right? Because that's what contribution in America is all about ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by katenik
Unless you have some special talent, yes. It's the way of the world; nothing uniquely American about it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tulemutt
... because there is potential for 7 billion individuals to all have “special talents” in the world ... ? ... that way everyone can have value ... and without special talent, an ordinary person is valueless ... great.
Quote:
Originally Posted by katenik
The subject was contribution, not the inherent worth of the human being. But, if you choose to be obtuse, have at it!
... and your comment was “Unless you have some special talent, yes. It's the way of the world;” ... that is to say: ‘if a person doesn’t have some unique talent to share with society - they must contribute money’. ... Thus, as I was remarking originally: money becomes the measure of a person.
Pretty vacuous really.
7 billion people can’t all have “special talents”. ... And if they don’t it’s not okay for them to simply be, well, simple beings who don’t pursue the dollar as their priority? Millions of people couldn’t, for example, just work low wage jobs, take care of their families, and say - be volunteer youth sport coaches, church food bank volunteers, provide cookies for bake sales to raise funds for a school trip, join a litter clean-up brigade, ... or occassionally participate in any of a bazillion other modest, completely ordinary, non-special-talent activities. Everybody needs to be special or wealthy? Not ok to just be ordinary ... hmmm.
Since we're talking capitalism which is a three pronged concept of an upper class, a middle class, and a lower class for it to work effectively.. Tell me something.. in this beautiful gentrified world of yours who's going to work at the gas station, the grocery check out, teach at the local elementary, and so forth? The tech engineer isn't going to do that and neither is the hip lady that owns and runs the high end artisanal bread shop. The majority of the ones that get priced out of an area due to gentrification are the very ones that need to remain in that area to keep your scared capitalism engine churning and humming along.
Location: Formerly Pleasanton Ca, now in Marietta Ga
10,351 posts, read 8,567,170 times
Reputation: 16693
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bodybuilder91
Gentrification in California is really just balancing out the population and weeding out those who should’ve never been here to begin with. The ones complaining about being priced out should consider themselves lucky they were even alive during a time they can barely scrape by on rent. Living in one of the most desirable regions in the world was never meant to be “affordable”, and especially not cheap.
Statistics clearly prove that crime rates drop, businesses thrive more, and more people are engaged with the neighborhood when they feel more comfortable walking in the streets. This has absolutely nothing to do with race or ethnicity, gentrification is a social-economics related thing and there’s no shame in encouraging more of it. If you can’t keep up with the rat race of LA or the competitive market of the rest of California, then oh well, ethier make more money or live somewhere else like Arizona or Texas.
So many people want to move here but only few of those want to contribute something meaningful to society.
What is it you do that contributes something meaningful to society that entitles you to live in California?
Volunteer at a soup kitchen, mentor young kids, build homes with habitat for humanity?
Or is it just that you have enough income to live there?
I don't mind some gentrification in the form of flipping single-family homes when they go up for sale, but it bugs me when developers/planners start tearing down entire neighborhoods comprised of quality 1940s/50s built homes and replacing them with generic looking, trendy, medium-density apartments/condos.
My wife's parents live in one of the older SFH neighborhoods in downtown Phoenix, and the homes are just so awesome. Loads of character in every single one... big yards, eclectic architecture, understated style. It's sad when I go back to visit, and another block of these homes is torn down and replaced with dense living units. Blech.
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