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> ... see the violence and degradation out there? This is the world that you have created ... No, that is the world that the current tenants have created. Thes
by walls 13y ago
> ... see the violence and degradation out there? This is the world that you have created ...
No, that is the world that the current tenants have created. These are the people here to turn it around.
- jamesaguilar 13y agoDidn't you hear? Oakland was the most peaceful city in the country before about 2004 when Googlers started dispersing that far.
- sliverstorm 13y agoSeriously, it's all the Googler-on-Googler gang violence that has been skewing Oakland's crime statistics.
- ahomescu1 13y agoNo, it's the Googler-on-Facebooker (if that's even a word) full-out gang war.
- eli_gottlieb 13y agoDude, this is not a joke. There were massive numbers of casualties in the Nerf war of Summer 2013 between the Dragon Army and Sunshine Regiment. HAIL GENERAL GRANGER! And then there was the Nerf zombie apocalypse in spring!
- mathattack 13y agoIf I were trying to encourage folks to not invest in local real estate, I would try to scare Googlers and Facebookers out of town. If I wanted to destroy the tax base supporting my school, I would try to scare Googlers and Facebookers out of town. If I wanted to drive my coffeshop or cheeseburger stand out of business I would try to scare Googlers and Facebookers out of town. If I wanted my theater to be empty, I would try to scare Googlers and Facebookers out of town.
- potatolicious 13y agoI agree with the gist of what you're trying to say, but: > "If I wanted to drive my coffeshop or cheeseburger stand out of business I would try to scare Googlers and Facebookers out of town." Yes, you really would. One of the chief problems with gentrification (where "problem" is highly subjective) is that the incoming population sometimes doesn't want the businesses you already have. Your local cup-o-joe place is going to shut down in favor of organic, fair-trade coffee that comes with a brochure (and 5x the price). Your local cheeseburger stand is going to shut down in favor of a quinoa kale salad stand (and 5x the price). Edit: The oxymoron of Bay Area gentrification on the other hand is that the protesters don't really want the old hood back, they want first-wave-gentrification-hood back. Nobody really misses the cheapass coffee stand, nobody really misses the cheapass taco stand. They miss that little temporary state where the artisanal coffee shop opened and the organic grocery got started but before the real rush came in search of it.
- owenjones 13y agoAnecdotal story time: I lived in a rough neighborhood in Philly probably at the beginning of the first wave of gentrification in that area. Our house was a recent rehab, there were several houses next door that were completely vacant. We would frequent a terrible, dirty, cheap hoagie (or sub for you non-Philadelphians) shop owned by an immigrant family. I was always worried that they would get displaced by the incoming 2nd generation of gentrifiers. Instead they rehabbed their business and now serve expensive sandwiches made with organic ingredients and have a large selection of pricey craft beers. It's still owned by the same family. Now I'm not saying that the gentrification process isn't destructive to a neighborhoods culture, but I don't think it has to be this way.
- mathattack 13y agoWealthier patrons are good for business. Most are happy up selling.
- jaredsohn 13y agoI think that the person who wrote the letter uses "you" here to refer to the non-blue-collar world. I think they would view the "turning it around" that you mentioned as making Oakland nicer by gentrifying the current residents off to some other place.