Aug 26

Welcome to Gentrification City

Siteseeing

There's an interesting article at this week's LA Weekly, "Welcome to Gentrification City" that summerize the recent rise of luxury condo/lofts all around LA inner cities and a rush of upper middle class 'overtaking' lower-middle income neighorhoods, changing the dynamic of the community, etc. I know friends who got forced out of their low rent apartment because the owner is either selling or converting it to luxury condo for sell (err...I'm living in one of these kind of condo...).

I mentioned the emergence of Gelato boom around LA before, apparently it is one of 'signs' of city gentrification according to LA Weekly: ^^:;

Gelato: Back in the 1990s, coffeehouses were a pivotal sign of gentrification, showing buyers of means that a neighborhood was ready for its close-up — and a low-fat, no-foam latte. Espresso-based businesses generated street life, the air of Italian sophistication and an addicted customer base willing to pay obscene prices. The glamour began to fade, however, once Starbucks started grafting itself onto laundromats. Gelato shops – which offer a cream-free form of ice cream — are the new hubs of neo-Italian excitement, pushing a neighborhood from middle to upper class. On Sunset Boulevard, Pazzo Gelato completed the Brentwoodization of Silver Lake, where even the local comic book looks upscale. And while corporations may have diminished the café’s cache, a well-placed chain coffeehouse can still turn heads. See the arrival of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in East Los Angeles, or the presence of Starbucks near Santee Alley.

Freda | August 26, 2006 08:28 PM