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If your street full of esoteric expensive artisan stores was replaced by a Wall-Mart, you wouldn't call that gentrification. Gentrification casts out the low-in
by joefourier 7y ago
If your street full of esoteric expensive artisan stores was replaced by a Wall-Mart, you wouldn't call that gentrification. Gentrification casts out the low-income residents, it doesn't invite them in en masse.
- jhbadger 7y agoActually, that's typically what does occur as part of gentrification. Typically a bohemian neighborhood has all sorts of interesting indie stores selling books, art, antiques, etc. But these stores aren't that profitable -- a chain retailer can pay much more rent and so the owners evict the indie stores.
- joefourier 7y agoTrue, but generally the bohemians and artists are the first ones to replace the working-class character of the neighborhood with their own, until they themselves are replaced by young urban professionals... Comparing the wide Internet to a neighborhood with fixed space constraints is a rocky analogy to begin with. The foundation of a new city would be more appropriate, starting with a small population of intrepid explorers in a wild uncharted wilderness and growing to a massive commercial behemoth...
- tomatotomato37 7y agoFacebook and the like aren't the Walmart of the web though, they're the Wholefoods and sushi bars; Craigslist would be the closer Walmart equivalent; shoving out weaker sites while still being pretty lower-income