wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Comments

• [1] Stephen from Brooklyn June 16, 2008 - 11:41AM

  Brian,

  I have lots of anger concerning gentrification. I am a 42 year old native of Brooklyn and over the last 12 years had to move 5 times and soon might be pushed out of the city altogether.

  Why should these folks from Kansas have their pick of the litter while a native is being pushed out?

  Carpetbagging colonialism!

  
  
• [2] susan from manhattan June 16, 2008 - 11:41AM

  I cannot believe the language I'm hearing here...and it's interesting to pair the difference in motivating factors of the 'white gentrifiers' with the 'black gentrifiers'.

  I have a feeling that the idea of keeping a 'white neighborhood white' would not seem so acceptable.

  I think the word 'community' should encompass more than race. It should encompass individuals.

  
  
• [3] Tonya from Harlem June 16, 2008 - 11:42AM

  These discussions are very tiresome. Neighborhoods undergo constant change....particularly dynamic ones as we have in NYC.

  
  
• [4] Fatuma from Brooklyn June 16, 2008 - 11:45AM

  what solution is being proposed here, increase the cost of living in the city even more by subsidizing people to live in certain neighborhoods?

  
  
• [5] Tom from Soho June 16, 2008 - 11:50AM

  So let me get this straight. If a white neighborhood tries to keep blacks out it is racism but when blacks try to keep a neighborhood black it is called preserving black cultural heritage. Got it.

  
  
• [6] Tara Lambert from New York, NY June 16, 2008 - 11:55AM

  I was hoping that this would be an honest and in depth conversation about the issues that are rapidly increasing between the growing black middle and upper middle class, and low income to poor black residents who reside within the same neighborhoods. Unfortunately it is apparent that this guest does not want to go there....She is glossing over everything and just giving the status quo, politically correct rhetoric.

  
  
• [7] inquisigal from Brooklyn June 16, 2008 - 11:57AM

  If you listeners want to hear a local, more positive spin on a neighborhood gentrifying, check out a project I am working on in Bed Stuy. It's called "Meet Your Neighbors," and meant to bring new and old residents together, to find common ground. Here is a link: http://www.bedstuyblog.com/category/gentrification/

  
  
• [8] andrea from new jersey June 16, 2008 - 11:59AM

  As a middle-class black person, I'm not sure why I "have" to maintain ties with the poor black community. Moving up and out is the American dream a la George and Weezy. We don't seem to have the same requirement for white folks.

  I agree I have a responsibility to help the poor, all poor folks. But I'm trying to move away from so much race-based identification. My family is and continues to be more and more culturally diverse. It's not just Barack Obama. Can we discuss how this aspect impacts interactions between poor and middle class blacks?

  
  
• [9] Bill from Manhattan June 16, 2008 - 11:59AM

  80/20 is just a direct subsidy from market rate purchasers and tenants. Are we saying we should push the middle class out of the city even faster?

  
  
• [10] Pk from NYC June 16, 2008 - 05:11PM

  Not every neighbor is perfect, of course. In an environment of gentrification, imperfection often rears its ugliness, to the chagrin of the newcomer. I can well identify with gentrifiers who come to be perplexed and appalled by a long-time denizen who possesses social habits that are less than acceptable. Especially, may I add, if that denizen and his friends dare to loiter at odd hours, doing what they may, by the entrance of a contiguous structure. The "stuff" of neighborhoods that create disappointment and angst doesn't sit too well when one must write a check to pay off a mortgage or pay the rent.

  
  
• [11] ok June 17, 2008 - 03:00PM

  I'm glad someone's paying attention to the growing Black Middle Class; it's a fascinating study. But she lost me on that last statistic. Why should anyone expect to be able to afford to rent a one bedroom apartment on minimum wage? Most of this country shares apartments or crams themselves into studios when we're not making much money, especially in expensive cities. No one should expect to support anyone else or live in luxury on the minimum wage.

  Finally, I personally believe that the power of just saying hi to neighbors who don't look like you goes a long way towards breaking down class and racial barriers.

  
  
• [12] Wolf from Baltimore July 26, 2008 - 05:58PM

  Change is the nature of life. I am a black autistic gentleman who has struggled over 41 years to return to the ranks of the middle class. Market forces drive neighborhoods to change. When people with money regardless of color want to be where poor people are, the poor generally will lose.

  A black gentleman wants a community of his economic peers. A nice neighborhood with little crime, no nasty gangs, murderers and open air drug corners is something that must be earned via education and hard work. Black and poor people have a choice today. They can be street corner pharmacist's or they can go to school and become more than a throw away gangsta thug.

  America offers choices and you are blessed or cursed by the choices you make. Who do you have to blame for making a bad choice but yourself so I feel no pain for the displaced by gentrification!

  
  
• [13] Jewel from BED STUY July 27, 2008 - 08:54PM

  Having lived in Bed Stuy for 40 years the recent gentrification is sometimes disturbing. When whites move into the area the police presence increases the "rif raf" is force out and bike lanes are put in. We oldtimers have petition for more police protection, more funding for schools, a simple street light that we tried to get put up for 20 years and nothing was ever done. Within in one year of my white neighbor buying his home the street light was put up. One year later he and his family are gone. Community is lost because most don't stay. the 1st of every month over the past few years you see a moving truck pulling up all the time. They look at you as if you are the stranger in the neighborhood. As the other poster mentioned, we do reach out a hand to say hello and be friendly and I must admit the new home owner do reach back. The renters do not.

  Gentrification is definitely about money and racism. Most to the homeowners I know are black but chose to rent to whites because they can pay more and they are willing to pay more up front, but even some homeowers are starting to have second thoughts because in the beginning it was something new and a cash cow, now the culture and community are being lost.