Gentrification in NYC (Low-income neighborhoods, Manhattan, Queens) 

Gentrification is a very common issue we face in our everyday lives. Innovation and creativity within construction often conflicts with low-income neighborhoods along with traditional neighborhoods. One example of this is a very large enterprise is constructed in a low-income neighborhood and as a result property rent and the cost of living have increased drastically. From a neutral standpoint you must admire the contributions of those trying to create their own establishments, however it may also prove to be detrimental to the neighborhood. For example, I decided to build a vet clinic in a rather low-income area where the current rent is stable. However, after the vet clinic is built the cost of living increases due to my vet clinic raising property taxes.  

With new businesses like large corporations building their establishments in a low-income area property taxes and value would skyrocket causing a drastic rise in living costs and expenses. Gentrification is a very big issue due to the fact it causes what is called displacement. Put simply, “Wages of low-income residents as well as housing policies have not kept pace with the acceleration of housing prices, resulting in demographic shifts in the 31 county – tri state region.” (Urban Displacement Project). The rising cost of living expenses poses a risk to New Yorkers living in low-income neighborhoods as this is an indirect way of driving people out. The information the author is trying to reach out is how drastic the corporations are expanding to the point where low-income residents are at risk of being driven out. The way this connects to the real world today is many neighborhoods are facing a large increase in rent and living due to these large corporations. 

The intended target audience of this essay is New Yorkers, specifically those who live in low-income neighborhoods. People who experience gentrification are at risk of being driven out. Not only are living expenses a problem but cultural and traditions would be driven out and erased even. Put simply, “The trend evokes 19th century European Bohemianism, erasing actual history to create an ‘authentic’ urban setting […] The disappearance of necessity businesses includes the erasure of ethnic products and languages, leaving old timers without a sense of ownership over these spaces.” (From Bodega to Boutiques: The Changing Face of Retailing Shows Gentrification’s Effects). Gentrification not only drives just people but can run the risk of wiping out cultures and traditions within that area.  The author is trying to convey the message that gentrification is a danger to culture within certain areas specifically with the risk of being driven out it can potentially wipe out and disrupt the areas culture. The intended audience being long-term residents who have resided in an area for generations building culture only to be at risk of dissapearing. 

When we think of gentrification, we often only think of residents within the neighborhood whether or not it’s low-income. No one ever bats an eye on innovation and expansion. No neighborhood or place can stay the same all the time, change is bound to happen it is simply just inevitable. For example, someone wants to build a veterinarian clinic or a hospital at the cost of raising living expenses around the area. To put it simply, “Sometimes it feels like an accusation, underpinned by a somewhat paradoxical assumption that innovative economic growth in cities will inevitably have a destructive impact on poor residents.” (Does innovation equal gentrification? By Jennifer S. Vey) This emphasizes how innovation contributes to the intuity of how general innovation can be seen as destructive to impoverished neighborhoods even though they can be constructing a hospital or a supermarket. The audience being both business owners and people of low-income backgrounds to acknowledge how beneficial and how destructive gentrification can be regardless of intent. 

Overall, the impact of genuine innovation and gentrification creates perpetual assumptions that will have just negative impacts on low-income residents. Even if said buildings are built for the greater good of the neighborhood like a supermarket, the issue of displacement and rising living cost is very rampant. As seen today and in real life, when a large fancy corporate building or hospital is being built near our hospital our intuitions will immediately tell us this is bad in the long run. Yet we should still take account of the other perspective of those who wish to expand their business; you simply can’t tell them to pack and move somewhere else either.