Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space

"A community’s physical form, rather than its land uses, is its most intrinsic and enduring characteristic." [Katz, EPA] This blog focuses on place and placemaking and all that makes it work--historic preservation, urban design, transportation, asset-based community development, arts & cultural development, commercial district revitalization, tourism & destination development, and quality of life advocacy--along with doses of civic engagement and good governance watchdogging.

Friday, February 22, 2008

One of the many reasons that I don't like the G word

The issue is change, and difference. When people use the G word they mean certain things usually whites moving into traditionally African-American areas. But what matters the most is the color green.

See "Plan dropped for San Jose Vietnamese business district ballot question" from the San Jose Business Journal. Contrast this with very old coverage from the Washington Post, "Washington's Little Ethiopia," subtitled "A New Cluster of Restaurants Brings Exotic (Yet Inexpensive) Appeal to Ninth and U Streets," and "Shaw Shuns 'Little Ethiopia'."

Plus this article from the City Weekly section of the New York Times, " Harlem Pas de Deux."

In a storied part of the city, affluent black newcomers and longtime black residents, strongly linked by racial kinship and shared history, are nevertheless sometimes at odds...

“We’ve been here for a long time and have struggled with drugs and crime, for good schools,” said Ms. Rolack, who remembers when Harlem had few banks or supermarkets, and crack cocaine was king. “Now, I feel like we have a lot of people coming into the community who don’t come with anything to help those of us who have been here through it all.”

Ms. Rolack also bristled about the attitude she senses in some of the newcomers. “It’s the way they act,” she said. “Like, don’t touch me, like they are so much better than me. But really, it’s like, I’m black and you’re black.”

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