A Gentrification Reader

How often do you think about gentrification? Probably not often, unless it’s happening right around you. I know I don’t. And, even if you are witnessing it firsthand, you might not be against it. You might think that getting rid of those old run-down buildings and cleaning up the place is a good idea. But gentrification isn’t that simple. In most cases, it means that indigenous, usually lower-income, families are uprooted from the neighborhoods that they grew up in so that higher-income folks can come in and get cheap real estate, fix it up, and take the neighborhoods as their own. It’s happening in cities all over the world, but particularly in the U.S. This zine is a compilation of articles from other publications on gentrification that has occurred and is occurring in various cities, including New York, New Orleans, Portland, Chicago, and London. It’s an important and useful publication and it deserves a place in your library. Skot! did an excellent job putting together this resource explaining gentrification in simpler terms along with the motives behind it. It talks about property values, squatting, Portland, OR, Chicago, stories and comics by Seth Toboccman, San Francisco, Manhattan, Memphis, and so much more! This is from 1998 years so some of the information is dated (current developments, areas of panic, etc) but the underlying themes, motives, and processes have not changed. They have only started to develop at a more alarming pace!