Re: GrovePath's article, I came to this conclusion after doing similar research into gentrification. Oddly, I fit the profile of the college-educated Hispanic moving into a gentrifying multicultural neighborhood. Many of my Anglo friends are so uncomfortable in Lincoln Park that I am afraid to bring them over because they look so conspicuous and frightened I'm afraid they will lure trouble to us like a magnet, whereas I can walk home late at night without really causing a stir. I pay taxes and vote and call the city when I see a street light go out or a fire hydrant spouting water. Most of the middle-class people moving in are Filipinos, Indians, Kenyans, and the like, buying the affordable houses in the area and keeping the sidewalk clean. What can I say? The young kids walking around are lucky to have us. I wouldn't put up with any shit. It feels like home.

Marissa Gluck on CurbedLA writes,

Yuppies and hipsters, beware. Your reign of terror is greatly exaggerated. Time discusses the counterintuitive findings of a new study and finds that in fact, so called "gentrified communities" remain far more diverse than previously thought. "Those findings may seem counterintuitive, given that the term 'gentrification,' particularly in cities like New York and San Francisco, has become synonymous with soaring rents, wealthier neighbors and the dislocation of low-income residents. But overall, the new study suggests, the popular notion of the yuppie invasion is exaggerated."

======================
Gentrification: Not Ousting the Poor?

Time Magazine
By Barbara Kiviat
Jun. 29, 2008



A sign advertising for "Houses Wanted" stands on a temporary wall in front of row houses in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City.

People tend to think gentrification goes like this: rich, educated white people move into a low-income minority neighborhood and drive out its original residents, who can no longer afford to live there. As it turns out, that's not typically true.

A new study by researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Pittsburgh and Duke University, examined Census data from more than 15,000 neighborhoods across the U.S. in 1990 and 2000, and found that low-income non-white households did not disproportionately leave gentrifying areas. In fact, researchers found that at least one group of residents, high school?educated blacks, were actually more likely to remain in gentrifying neighborhoods than in similar neighborhoods that didn't gentrify ? even increasing as a fraction of the neighborhood population, and seeing larger-than-expected gains in income.

Those findings may seem counterintuitive, given that the term "gentrification," particularly in cities like New York and San Francisco, has become synonymous with soaring rents, wealthier neighbors and the dislocation of low-income residents. But overall, the new study suggests, the popular notion of the yuppie invasion is exaggerated. "We're not saying there aren't communities where displacement isn't happening," says Randall Walsh, an associate professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh and one of the study's authors. "But in general, across all neighborhoods in the urbanized parts of the U.S., it looks like gentrification is a pretty good thing."

The researchers found, for example, that income gains in gentrifying neighborhoods ? usually defined as low-income urban areas that undergo rises in income and housing prices ? were more widely dispersed than one might expect. Though college-educated whites accounted for 20% of the total income gain in gentrifying neighborhoods, black householders with high school degrees contributed even more: 33% of the neighborhood's total rise. In other words, a broad demographic of people in the neighborhood benefited financially. According to the study's findings, only one group ? black residents who never finished high school ? saw their income grow at a slower rate than predicted. But the study also suggests that these residents weren't moving out of their neighborhoods at a disproportionately higher rate than from similar neighborhoods that didn't gentrify.

This study isn't the first to come to that conclusion. A 2005 paper published in Urban Affairs Review by Lance Freeman, an assistant professor of urban planning at Columbia University, looked at a nationwide sample of neighborhoods between 1986 and 1989 and found that low-income residents tended to move out of gentrifying areas at essentially the same frequency they left other neighborhoods. The real force behind the changing face of a gentrifying community, Freeman concluded, isn't displacement but succession. When people move away as part of normal neighborhood turnover, the people who move in are generally more affluent. Community advocates may argue that succession is just another form of exclusion ? if low-income people can't afford to move in ? but, still, it doesn't exactly fit the popular perception of individuals being forced from their homes.

The new study found that while gentrification did not necessarily push out original residents, it did create neighborhoods that middle-class minorities moved to. The addition of white college graduates, especially those under 40 without children, was a hallmark of gentrifying neighborhoods ? that much fit the conventional wisdom ? but so was the influx of college-educated blacks and Hispanics, who moved to gentrifying neighborhoods more often than they to did similar, more static areas. Two other groups tended to move more often into upwardly mobile neighborhoods as well: 40-to-60-year-old Hispanics without a high-school degree, and similarly uneducated Hispanics aged 20 to 40 with children ? a counterpoint to the common conception of gentrification, if there ever was one. The only group that was less likely to move to a gentrifying area was high school?educated whites aged 20 to 40 with kids.

For more click here
Time Link
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Also, on a side note, here is a nice New York Magazine piece on the origins of the word yuppie in the early 80's:
http://nymag.com/anniversary/40th/50657/

I am neither.

Oh man you got me good. So what are you a yuppie or a hipster ? Obviously your one because you seem to defend them to the death. Just tell me which one you are and ill stop making fun of them so you wont be upset. By the way what if I was a thug looking guy (im not) but wasnt a criminal, would it still be ok to make fun of thugs? Cause it really seems anyones fair game to put down unless they're a yuppie or a hipster. God forbid you mention how big of tools they are on this board.


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LOL.

Oh god, it's a FAD! Nothing more, nothing less. Just like "grunge" in the 90's with everyone wearing flannel. Now it's a "hipster."
Tomorrow it will probably be hip to be square. Or maybe hip to be a circle. Who CARES! "Hipsters" may not make a neighborhood any better, but they sure don't make it worse. If they pay their rent/mortgage, then who cares. Last time I checked, there weren't roving gangs of hipsters robbing & raping people around here, or in Brooklyn for that matter. Get a hobby and stop paying so much attention to what people look like.

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You know who else is silly looking? The people who USED to inhabit Downtown JC. You know, the ones that you reminisce about. You know, the crackheads and thugs. They dress and act funny too.

this is an easy answer for all you complainers: the hipsters are better. What's worse, a kid in a scarf with tight jeans or watching 2 path trains leave completely packed?

well, I think by defination hipsters are slackers. They probably go into work later (if they work at all) than "the suits". The time they spend perfecting their ironic wardrobe makes them continuously late, therefore they're not participants in the morning rush hour.

However, the "evil yuppie suits" that will no doubt inhabit the high rise condos are fueled by chai soy lattes which make them function at warp speed, facilitating them getting to the path train smack dab in the middle of rush hour.

So ask yourself this, is a scarf and non prescription glasses worse than having your face in a dudes armpit from Grove Street to 14th?

My initial answer is BOTH but I've been living here for 19 years and am too busy to pay attention to either.

BESIDES THAT-- I'd like to pay less property taxes. I bought before it was "cool" so I should pay less.

j/k

I guess I was taking it too serious. They are kinda funny arent' they?

Hipsters are harmless, but from my experience it's more the attitude then the appearance thats bothersome. I have friends that are hipsters and just talking to them can be a bit annoying. Their cool and know everything attitude can be a bit much. But to each his own, I just find it funny.

hey chief,

i'm all against gay bashing too; haha. but come on... "billyburg". they humiliate there own kind there. they appreciate the irony.

http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/archi ... 008/08/misha_calvert.html

"Unless opening a dive bar and not having a full time job gets rid of criminals to you. " Awesome, sounds like the original JC population. Except they don't break into people' cars or mug people.

HAHAHAHAHA! Cheif my friend you take things way to serious. Im a bigot and im jelouse of these kids??? HA!, not even in the slightest. You think im gonna go out hipster bashing or something? I simply think they all look like tools and MOST dont do anything to a neighborhood to make it better. Unless opening a dive bar and not having a full time job gets rid of criminals to you. This is called speaking my mind, sorry if that makes you uneasy. They are silly looking and act funny therefore im gonna laugh at them, because its funny to me. Dosnt mean im gonna hurt them or be violent in anyway towards them. Damn, people on this board have no sense of humor.

"I don?t know if you've ever been to Williamsburg but the place is almost like being on another planet. Thankfully JC is no better no worse that most of NYC in terms of hipsters. But seriously all you people getting offended and sticking up for hipsters, just watch the video you cant tell me these people arnt over the top retarded. And I agree 100% with dragonjc's post, goin downtown now I dont fit in at all. I feel like I need to wear womans jeans(im a dude) big dumbass looking glasses and sip a starbucks just to fit in."

"Over the top and retarded" Are you listening to yourselves? I think anyone that has a problem with these people need to look within as they are obviously looking to lash out at someone. I for one have never witnessed a so called hipster speak ill will, or be derogatory towards another person. The only people that are complaining are people that don?t understand and are afraid of being left behind as their neighborhood progresses.

I have friends that live in Billyburg and I just don't get why people like you are so upset at young people having fun and living their lives? I seriously think a lot of people are jealous. There is soo much hate against this group. You would think that they were robbing your grandma.

Just admit it you don't like them because your are a bigot.

It is ridiculous that people like you have so much hatred towards people that are just trying to have fun with their lives. I think you should watch the movie Pleasantville. People like you remind me of the Nazis.

The Hipster Olympics!! Oh this is Grand!! Check to see if your parent's check has cleared at the ATM - oh my gosh this is great!!!!

hahaha

Cheifdahill, it is obvious the video is a joke...BUT the video captchers them perfectly. I dont know if you've ever been to Williamsburg but the place is almost like being on another planet. Thankfully JC is no better no worse that most of NYC in terms of hipsters. But seriously all you people getting offended and sticking up for hipsters, just watch the video you cant tell me these people arnt over the top retarded. And I agree 100% with dragonjc's post, goin downtown now I dont fit in at all. I feel like I need to wear womans jeans(im a dude) big dumbass looking glasses and sip a starbucks just to fit in.

hahaha. that is hilarious! no, but seriously though... hahah

I guess sarcasm is lost on some people. Even if it were true, still beats criminals.

Quote: LMAO! EXACTLY!

time to end yet another dumb thread.

Hating on any group of people is what causes war and destruction. it also provides justification for committing crimes against them. The credit card companies and the others that have ripped us off for years did so because they think folk who don't take what they want or aren't rich are weak and/or stupid. It's easier to kill or rob someone if you think you have a justification for it. Please stop.

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i believe "tongue in cheek" is the appropriate phrase.

oh mayla.......can't we all just be a little nicer and not so quick to judge on JClist.......

I am 45 and I Love the ipod. Remember when you had to stuff 2,3 or more cassettes in your pocket so you had a variety of music for your walkman? And then the batteries would die? The best thing about a cellphone is feigning a call so people leave you alone on the street. I think a lot of "hipsters" are just re-living their past in a sense. The once nerdy dork is suddenly, actually cool. The banana seat bike brings them back to their childhood and their comfort zone. Ever notice how hipsters love the things that harken back to a Mayberry RFD feeling? Diners, Barber-shops, etc. I am not a hipster but I think that they use these things to insulate themselves against the harshness of the "real world". Things that were once passe' are cool again. Dodge-ball, kick-ball and knitting parties. I get a laugh out of it sometimes but I am also pleased that Big Bird and Fred Rogers were not wasting their breath.

I'm getting tired of this arguement. It's Fashion people. Kids today are wearing hipster looking garb because it's the norm for their generation. Even the hip hop kids have their own version of hipster look. Years ago guidos were rocking Cavariciis, then you had prepsters with their cuffed jeans, rap kids had Cross Colors, etc...

The people that are complaining just have a different style and don't understand these kids. Most don't have trust funds and are not from Ohio even though that is the most common excuse.
You sound like a bunch of old people complaining about how the music is different these days and blah blah blah.

Plus the coment about hipsters on the path and I-pods and cell phones is ridiculous. Last time I checked everybody was on cellphones and i-pods, not just hipsters. I don't know why I even bother arguing about this. Close minded AssHats are just going to continue to hate anyone that doesn't look like themselves. You people are the real bigots.

BTW- I wear a suit everyday, have an ipod and use a cell phone. I guess I must be from Ohio.

I just love this lively healthy discussion! Look, to the guy that says he does not know 'his city anymore' - things change - get over it. Nothing in life is constant other than death and taxes. You need to get used to the change. Hipsters are rather silly looking I think - but that's the world today. What can you do? Things change. When I was 20 it was the whole preppie look - that was 25 years ago. Now it is the hipster look. Yeah, these 'struggling artist' kids look silly, but so did I when I was 20 looking all 'preppy'. Hopefully these kids will grow and mature and work hard and someday they too will be able to afford a new luxury condo. I get the biggest kick out of everyone constatly on their cell phones jabbering away - so very self absorbed. And everyone on The Path with their little earpieces tuned in and zoned out. My opinion. What worries me greatly is that these 'hipsters' have never learned to sit by themselves just with their own thoughts - or to just enjoy a beautiful sunset from their luxury condo loft open roofdeck without an Ipod plugged into their ears. Ah change. You cannot stop it, but you sure can talk about it!