Anti-gentrification radicals are on the march in Los Angeles. Is Houston next ? (loans, home)

[jfre81]

They should stand on the beach next time a hurricane comes and protest hurricanes. Maybe the storm will go away.

[LocalPlanner]

Gentrification happens. In and of itself, there is NO moral dimension to it.

Furthermore, no one cultural / ethnic / income can claim preferential ownership of a neighborhood, no matter its history. Cities change. Second Ward will be less Hispanic, Third Ward less African-American, Montrose less bohemian. While the heritage of those respective groups in those neighborhoods should be recognized, newcomers should not be under ANY obligation to support / embrace pre-existing institutions and informal systems specific to those cultures. The only obligation they should have is to generally be a good neighbor, the principles of which I posit are something universal across all urban culture groups.

If you want to mourn the loss of the cultural identity of gentrifying neighborhoods, fine, go ahead. But there is no justification for applying public policies to preserve the attachment of a particular group to a neighborhood, no matter what history of oppression there might be.

[jerbear30]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

Gentrification happens. In and of itself, there is NO moral dimension to it.

Furthermore, no one cultural / ethnic / income can claim preferential ownership of a neighborhood, no matter its history. Cities change. Second Ward will be less Hispanic, Third Ward less African-American, Montrose less bohemian. While the heritage of those respective groups in those neighborhoods should be recognized, newcomers should not be under ANY obligation to support / embrace pre-existing institutions and informal systems specific to those cultures. The only obligation they should have is to generally be a good neighbor, the principles of which I posit are something universal across all urban culture groups.

If you want to mourn the loss of the cultural identity of gentrifying neighborhoods, fine, go ahead. But there is no justification for applying public policies to preserve the attachment of a particular group to a neighborhood, no matter what history of oppression there might be.

You are exactly right that there is NO moral dimension to gentrification, but that's also what a lot of folks find horrifying about it. Moreover, the people who do the gentrifying are only held blameless by an economic structure that many of the original residents of these communities do not hold to be the gold standard of all human behavior and ethics, as you do. To you, based on an institutionality that you seem to hold beyond question, there is no moral dimension to gentrification. Not to everyone.

In fact, you have to divorce the process of gentrification from its place in history entirely in order to arrive at your conclusion about there being no "moral" dimension to it. Historically, gentrification is done by wealthy white people whose parents were by and large also wealthy, thus making it easier for them to get their wealth, and so on. Gentrification takes place in less privileged areas, and it by and large displaces poorer people, and people of color. This is bound up in a historical paradigm that goes way back and that is still being played out.

[order88]

As someone "gentrifying" the third ward, I noticed last weekend, there was a concert against third ward gentrification... can't seem to find a link.

Here is a recent interview from projectrowhouse people: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/a...unity-culture/

[jerbear30]

Originally Posted by jfre81

They should stand on the beach next time a hurricane comes and protest hurricanes. Maybe the storm will go away.

So gentrification is a force of nature?

[dcmatt]

Can't we all just get along?

[jerbear30]

Originally Posted by Jack Lance

What are they defending their homes from, Value Appreciation ? You would prefer their property to become worthless ?

As strange as it sounds, there are some people who think of "home" as being about more than economics. To be clear, I also tend to side with conservatives when it comes to eminent domain, for the same reason.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by jerbear30

So gentrification is a force of nature?

In a social and economic sense, absolutely.

[jerbear30]

Originally Posted by jfre81

In a social and economic sense, absolutely.

I think we're on different pages here--society and economics are the opposite of nature--they are products of human culture, and can be changed. Nature, on the other hand, cannot be changed. So comparing the two creates this obfuscation whereby something that can be changed appears to be something that cannot be changed. Those days when we view the market economy like nature or god are changing.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by jerbear30

I think we're on different pages here--society and economics are the opposite of nature--they are products of human culture, and can be changed.

Cities are dynamic. Change is the only constant.