Gentrification (Bienvenue a Shaw)

Gentrification (Bienvenue a Shaw)
Originally uploaded by rllayman

As regular readers know, I am not a big fan of the G word. I think it paints with a broad brush over very nuanced situations, diminishes the value of new investment and new populations, and is a circumscribed reading of the invasion-succession theory of neighborhood change and the neighborhood life cycle theory.

But seeing this slightly "adjusted" graffiti the other day makes me think about the whole idea of gentrification. Clearly this work/installation at 9th and R NW (I think) has provided very public commentary for many years about the process and progress of neighborhood change.

Photo from April 2006.