Gentrification, what are your thoughts?

I am not entirely sure how I feel about it. I can see the benefits of gentrification. Big business isn’t always bad – bring jobs into an area. New housing isn’t always bad – nicer apartments, more apartments…

But when I think about it deeper, the jobs that big business provides usually only pay slightly more than the minimum wage. An example of this… 116th and Pleasant Avenue in El Barrio (Spanish Harlem). There is a Costco, Old Navy, Target, Bob’s Furniture, and a Petco (and I believe a few more stores). This seems good. They boasted they would bring a few thousand jobs to the community… but you find out later that a lot of those jobs are at $8/hr. If you know Manhattan – this isn’t much at all compared to the cost of living. Also, a lot of the jobs are part time… big businesses’ way of not providing health insurance to its employees… and furthermore… these businesses said “jobs in the community”, but employees are from outside fo the community too… so in reality.. what have you given this community? Traffic… more pollution from the idling traffic and the truck deliveries to the stores…decrease in sales to the mom & pop shops…

And the apartments… The buildings are nice to look at… but when you look at them… for the last 2 years… they seem completed… no construction workers/work is visible…but the windows are all bare… you notice empty apartments… why would this be? Well, one building in particular is within 2 blocks of a drug rehabilitation facility. You see (at all times of the day) addicts walking the streets… they you investigate further and learn that these apartments are actually condos. Where a one bedroom will run you about $300k. This is in a community where it is mostly Hispanic and where the average annual income lies around $17k. These apartments in turn have not benefited anyone. Not the people that already lived in the community and not the gentrified people the new buildings hoped to gain…

and even if these apartments were filled with the gentrified people, what benefit is that really? They probably wouldn’t go to the Mexican grocery store owned and run by a family of LEGAL immigrants or first generation Americans. For sure they wouldn’t buy their groceries from the Associated nearby… once they look at the almost old “fresh” produce they will run (and the quality of produce… let’s leave that for another post). Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s will likely benefit from them.. except there isn’t one in the community…

So what is the benefit of gentrification? My conclusion: more money for real estate investors and building owners…  

Is it always a moneys game?

Are these notjustmythoughts?