Uneasy Rhetoric

If you don’t read The Onion, I suggest you read this article: Sometimes I Feel Like I’m The Only One Trying To Gentrify This Neighborhood.

There is a difference between neighborhood revitalization and gentrification, and I suppose it is possible to have one without the other, but the two, while different, nevertheless succumb to their mutual attraction and rut behind the bleachers of an as-yet-constructed arena.

It’s getting to the point where I feel like I’m tilting at windmills. But I can’t give up—I know this neighborhood would benefit from the diversity of more people like me moving in. If you need a good place to live, come check out my ‘hood. It’s quirky, but it could use a few more creative types to get it jumping. But no developers—those guys just ruin it for the rest of us.

And many people who believe they are fighting gentrification are frequently themselves responsible for it:

It sure would help attract people like me if there was a record store, too, and not the one with the giant Shakira cutout in the window. I mean a decent one. I went in to see if they had the new Fiery Furnaces, and they had never heard of it. They said they’d see if they could order it for me, but I declined. I mean, what’s the point of supporting a local business if it’s not cool?

Sure The Onion is parody. But it’s funny because it’s true.