#73 Gentrification
February 22, 2008 by clander
In general, white people love situations where they can’t lose. While this does account for the majority of their situations, perhaps the safest bet a white person can make is to buy a house in an up-and-coming neighborhood.
White people like to live in these neighborhoods because they get credibility and respect from other white people for living in a more “authentic” neighborhood where they are exposed to “true culture” every day. So whenever their friends mention their home in the suburbs or richer urban area, these people can say “oh, it’s so boring out there, so fake. In our neighborhood, things are just more real.” This superiority is important as white people jockey for position in their circle of friends.
They are like a modern day Lewis and Clark, except instead of searching for the ocean, they are searching for old properties to renovate.
In a few years, if more white people start moving in, these initial trailblazers will sell their property for triple what they paid and move into an ultramodern home.
Credibility or money, they can’t lose!
When one of these white people tell you where they live, you should say “whoa, it’s pretty rough down there. I don’t think I could live there.” This will make them feel even better about their credibility and status as neighborhood pioneers.
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Yes this blog pokes fun at white people and it is written by a white guy, Christian Lander. Read “About” derp.
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/about/
From the posts I have read on this blog I think that the poor and the middle class and racism have been very cloudy. First there is real racism and there are legitimate reasons some people are poor. like racism and poor people we are using generalities and not dealing with the issues. Where I live, during the 80s,the city put up a lot of low income housing but for what ever reasons those dwelling in them were mostly black. Never the less i have known Black people who did not live in low income housing. When I lived in Lexington , Kentucky there was a lot of low income housing and the same situation and yet my girlfriend at the time (me being white and her being black ) lived in the middle of the city in a nice down town apartment. So there are choices to be made. It is really not a racial issue unless one wants to make it so. When I lived in Chicago there was the south side and the north side. The south side was a very bad area but not the north side and the north side had plenty of racial diversity. It even had a strong gay presence. I am no psychologist and cannot understand why some pick one kind of neighborhood over another.
The real issue is potential and motivation. What I mean by potential is, are you a mature mentally and physically able bodied person who with some motivation can accomplish something? Better your life some how. I have heard the “race” issue used as an excuse. People are prejudice by nature. Not all though. The reason need not be color or race. It can be being disabled or many stupid reasons.
As far as being poor is concerned it is not a label. Like I am poor and will always be that way. On the other hand there are people who do have serious disabilities who at best can learn to function some what. I have lived with both extremes. Also I do not think every American has to be forced to live a lavish life if that is not their thing. There has to be a middle ground here. We should do what we are able and not pull the “racism ” card. That excuse used to be legit but not any more. It has been shown in business that any one can get ahead if they so choose. Until now of course. Because now the super rich do want us all out of their way. And they are making it impossible for regular people to earn a “normal” living. This is the real problem now. Yes those of “great” means are not happy with any one else who is less then they are. It is getting to the point where those making 100,000 a year ( should most of us be that lucky)will be the “poor” in this country. Thus I thank the Occupy Wall St movement for trying to restore some sanity to this nation of ours. Hopefully and I kind of doubt it , every one will be able to live and work with dignity and that there remains help for those who truly need it.
You must be English because I understand that expression.
Me too. These comments are great and should be put together in a book it would be a best seller. I could not be more serious but the greatest writing talent I have seen in a long time exists on this blog!!!!!
I am sorry and i mean no disrespect but this site is wonderful. The posts are so well written that I have to suspect this is a kind of spoof. The writing style and sarcasm is fantastic. So good that I doubt some of you could not get a great job as writers. I personally agree with this site and the comments but i love the way things are presented. Its great really great restores my confidence in humanity . sanity and some damn good sense of humor even if that were not intended. Might I suggest that some of you use your talents and start a news paper or something. I guarantee it could get big and on a serious note this stuff needs to go public
Long time reader here…Never commented but I have to chime in on this one…
I grew up in a lower middle class neighborhood…one which went through gentrification in the mid-80′s, and I can tell you firsthand the issue is two-fold:
1. When “white people” (socio-economic class, not color…as in “white bread” not “white skinned”…”Whiteness” comes in all colors) gentrify a neighborhood, not only does the local atmosphere change, but as property values rise, so too do property taxes…which forces many who have lived their entire lives in one place – in one house, in one neighborhood, often surrounded by loved ones and friends living in the same neighborhood – to sell. Not sell by choice…but sell because they can no longer afford to live in the only home they have ever known. Who cares that they can sell for more than they would have before? Some things, my friends, are more important than money.
In addition…local businesses that were patronized by the “non-white” former residents often lose money as the new “white” residents, slum as they might, prefer to eat, shop, and play “white” (organic, wheat crust pizza rather than the the slimy greasy heart-attack-on-a-plate the rest of us prefer, for example…or Trader Joes to the mom and pop grocery store that doesn’t stock “fair trade” coffee) …These businesses then either sell their businesses to more “appropriate” outlets or change their operation to accomodate the “newcomers”…and in either case prices rise to “white” levels as “white products” take over the local market, forcing those oldtimers who stayed on to shop further from home or move closer to business they can afford and will enjoy buying from. (In my old neighborhood, for example, Cove Pizza became “Cove Restauarant” and began to serve overpriced gourmet slop…and the local deli turned into a sports bar…Ironic as there was not a bar for miles originally.)
2. On a larger, deeper level…it’s HIGHLY INSULTING for those who can afford to live anywhere to choose to live in a lower income neighborhood so that they can “be down with the common man” like some modern day Marie Antoinette, pretending to be a peasant shepherdess. Wake up…barring some great financial catastrophe, you will NEVER know what it’s like to be poor.You can leave that neighborhood…and although it’s not impossible for those who live there orginally to do so, they don’t have the degree or the trust fund to fall back on when they get bored of slumming. End of story.
My story does have a happy ending…
This isn’t a white thing, it’s an upper-middle class thing. Don’t characterize an entire race based on the actions of the top 5% wealthiest Americans.
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