Comment 93658

By Borrelli (registered) | Posted October 24, 2013 at 14:01:03

I distinctly remember my own 'a-ha' moment when I realized I was one of the gentrifiers I had spent a year studying (and often deriding). I argued in my thesis that gentrification occurs as a result of a white, middle class romanticization of "otherness". That was one of my "big money" statements.

Why blame gentrification on white, middle-class romanticization when it can be more accurately described as white, middle-class capital-activation? Gentrifiers (like you, me, us--no loaded value statement here) may feel or say that a place or people draw them to Hamilton, but more powerful (in this era) is the very capitalist urge to buy property at low prices, repair it or live in it, and bank the capital gains.

Is that not the process that's we're currently witnessing? It's what's changing downtown, and some people see elements as problematic, but on the whole it's mostly positive. Regardless, no one has an inherent right to stasis, so three cheers for the gentrifiers (accidental or otherwise)!

Interesting thoughts; thanks for the read, Adrienne.

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