Thank you, Dr. Victoria Powell, this is the first of your articles that I have read. It helped me grasp the idea that time and change may go on but it is important to document who we have been and what has happened in the spaces we live.
Hey Vic - you always make me think! And there is an ego gratification that younger people buy into for the slickest or hippest that plays into gentrification as well I think as a friend in Denver was discussing a neighborhood much like yours that is frequented by younger professionals and $200 dinners. Part of it is ok with me as I don't believe in the power of money in a philosophical sense but the hardships not having any cannot be denied. Gentrification is right in the middle of all those thoughts and feelings.
This was such a great piece Victoria, so much to think about. I am knocked out by Lauren Halsey's installation at the Met. It's so up my alley with the repurposed/reinvented hieroglyphs, layered meaning, use of new mediums--it's stunning in so many ways! I'm so glad it's coming to LA.
Such an interesting post, thank you for introducing me to all these artists and projects. I was really taken by Abigail Deville's Harlem Stories. She definitely does have a wonderful way with words. I like how you connected her work with what history is taught in schools. It's scary to think how much our children's education is gate-kept by politicians. Like you say, we should all have a broad knowledge of history, including histories of those who have been repressed, so that we can see more clearly what is going on around us.
I can't take credit for it. One of the community groups in my area of Los Angeles (East Side) coined it. I agree with you, strong and clear. Quite Zen. I too live in a community that has been affected by gentrification. I'm not so sure the "benefits" are all that great. I smell the scent of authoritarianism and I don't like it.
I do. It seems like they have this sort of cultural order that they follow and are fairly rigid. And at the same time, rather naive that the world is vast and amazing and very fucked up. If that makes sense.
Thank you for sharing these artists, their public works (Youtube links) and putting such a thoughtful piece together. Gentrification is so complex and has devastating consequences. It was interesting hearing people talk about the inevitableness of change. The strength in community demonstrated by each part is something I want to find.
Thanks for your thoughts Diane. Gentrification is definitely not a black and white issue, and it's interesting to see it happen around me here in Bristol and thinking about my own part in it.
Great article - gentrification is such a problem everywhere.. and then it’s hard to not be part of the problem ourselves. I live in LA - which as you covered is bonkers when it comes to real estate. We’ve been thinking of moving to Mexico where we can afford something but then we’d be part of the gentrification issue there! It’s a no-win game!
Mexico is actually right next to California so not a big leap at all. Many Americans move there - it used to be retirees but now with remote work it’s young folks too. Mexico City particularly has become very very gentrified and rents have skyrocketed (there’s a few articles about this in the LA Times etc).
Great piece. I love how you acknowledge that you are part of - or have benefited from - the issue of gentrification. It's a tricky subject and has a knock-on effect for everyone. I know many families who have migrated north to where I live in Sheffield in the UK from the south because they can't afford to buy in their own home city. This means of course that younger generations such as my children are getting priced out of the local housing market, yet we benefited because our own home sold very quickly for much more than we paid for it (to Londoners! ; )
All that aside, the artwork you share here is amazing, and the short film and photographs about Pier 52 very touching. Thank you for sharing : )
Thanks for your kind words Kate, glad to hear you enjoyed the art too. Pier 52 has got such an interesting history, I feel like there's a really good research project waiting there for someone. I wonder how many of the men in that community survived the onslaught of HIV/AIDS.
About gentrification, it's such a complicated issue with winners who can also be losers too. I feel like we were losers because we had to move away from our life in London. And we've made other people into losers here in Bristol.
The benefits outweigh the negatives but only if the negatives are considered and mitigated to the best of our ability. Thank-you for such an interesting post with some fascinating art to look at . I knew nothing of these people or their work, so this is exactly why I'm here!
Another excellent, thought provoking article and introduction to artists making important, valuable work.
I agree with Tyler's comment that gentrification is just the symptom of a deeply flawed political system that enables, encourages (& even ultimately forces) the security of a lucky few to be at the expense of those in the margins who must accept an increasingly precarious rental system. This could be reversed if the government - and therefore the people, chose to vote that way.
Thanks for your thoughts, Lucy. It is interesting to see how other countries manage housing more successfully. I'd be interested to learn more about what they do in Austria and Singapore. I do feel a bit hopeless about whether things can ever change here in the UK. There would have to be such a massive overhaul of political ideas and will (on lots of things, not just this issue!). We just push bits of paper around, one party to the next.
An interesting post, as always. It’s made me think about the word ‘gentrification’. It’s so loaded with emotion and political ideology. As a writer I think about terminology and you’ve given me something to ponder on here.
In my own experience I’ve bought houses, done them up with my own blood, sweat, and hard-earned money, then sold at a profit (most of the time). So, I guess, I’m totally invested in gentrification which has its positive and negative aspects. Lots more conversations to have about homes and the way we live!
I hadn't thought about the word, but now you point it out, yes it's totally loaded! I think housing will be top of the agenda in the UK for a very long time... It feels quite desperate for the people caught up in the rental crisis in London particularly. I sometimes think 'there but by the grace of god go I'
Thanks for this essay. The gentrification issue is one I've thought about a lot over the years and I can relate to the tension of having certain privileges that contributing to the process of displacement, even unintentionally, and being aware of that while feeling frustrated about how you're placed within the cycle of gentrification.
There's also a hierarchy to gentrification, which means that those with some means, but not the most means, often lack the full range of options, and thus move into more affordable areas, but as a result of certain status(es), make the area more amenable to more privileged classes. Low-income artists are a famous example of this, as they're drawn to neighbourhoods that have the space and 'character' they like but in moving into such areas, make it "cool," causing middle-income professionals to move in, before the wealthy make their claim. You see this in expensive cities from Vancouver to Melbourne, but also in relatively "affordable" cities as you've noticed with Bristol.
Ultimately, I think a lot of folks get stuck on "I don't know what the solution is." And honestly, I don't have all the answers either, as I'm still learning and pondering. But we're often looking for incremental changes or reforms to the existing system so that the comforts of those who can have a say aren't disrupted too much in the process (not saying this is you or anyone in particular). The housing crisis is a major issue across the world and isn't being fixed by density bonuses and YIMBY-at-all-costs rhetoric.
If we can agree that housing is a basic human right, which most seem to, then it begs the question of why we've allowed it to become so commodified and treated as an asset or investment above all else. This process should be ridiculed as much as the left (and centre to some extent) ridicule encroaching healthcare privatization. The solution to this conundrum is to de-commodify housing as much as possible. Which is, yes, radical, and probably something most with the ability to move the needle on this don't want to do because they tend to have greater access to wealth in our society. But, if we can decouple housing from capitalist frameworks, it can lead to healthier, more sustainable communities that can maintain themselves without the threat of a bike lane causing a rise in rents. Because we should all have bike lanes in our neighbourhoods. In the Anglosphere, we've moved so far beyond this that it seems unrealistic or far-fetched, but it wasn't that long ago that governments were investing much more in public housing, and in some places, they still constitute a significant portion of homes (Austria, Singapore).
Thanks for all your thoughts Tyler, the pattern of gentrification is clear as you have laid out, and I agree with you that having a roof over your head should be a basic for everyone. I'd be interested to see how other countries achieve it successfully. In Germany there seems to be a good system for keeping rents down, where everyone isn't rushing to buy homes either, but I don't know much about it.
My studio is in Hackney Wick, a formerly industrial area that artists claimed in all its grittiness to set up studios. It was one of London's most famous artist quarters before gentrification began: the irony is that the same developers that are now tearing down the studios, replacing them with blocks of flats, and pushing all the artists out, have the gall to market these new builds as being located in the artist quarter!
Thank you, Dr. Victoria Powell, this is the first of your articles that I have read. It helped me grasp the idea that time and change may go on but it is important to document who we have been and what has happened in the spaces we live.
Thanks for reading, Mark, and appreciate your comments!
Hey Vic - you always make me think! And there is an ego gratification that younger people buy into for the slickest or hippest that plays into gentrification as well I think as a friend in Denver was discussing a neighborhood much like yours that is frequented by younger professionals and $200 dinners. Part of it is ok with me as I don't believe in the power of money in a philosophical sense but the hardships not having any cannot be denied. Gentrification is right in the middle of all those thoughts and feelings.
Yes, exactly, I agree with you all you say here Alana.
This was such a great piece Victoria, so much to think about. I am knocked out by Lauren Halsey's installation at the Met. It's so up my alley with the repurposed/reinvented hieroglyphs, layered meaning, use of new mediums--it's stunning in so many ways! I'm so glad it's coming to LA.
Thanks Mary Jo, I'd love to see it in person. I hope the artist does manage to find a location for it in L.A.
Such a great edition!
Thanks Bailey, really appreciate you reading
Such an interesting post, thank you for introducing me to all these artists and projects. I was really taken by Abigail Deville's Harlem Stories. She definitely does have a wonderful way with words. I like how you connected her work with what history is taught in schools. It's scary to think how much our children's education is gate-kept by politicians. Like you say, we should all have a broad knowledge of history, including histories of those who have been repressed, so that we can see more clearly what is going on around us.
Thanks Helen, and yes I agree with everything you say here.
Gentrification = Economic apartheid.
strong view, clearly stated!
I can't take credit for it. One of the community groups in my area of Los Angeles (East Side) coined it. I agree with you, strong and clear. Quite Zen. I too live in a community that has been affected by gentrification. I'm not so sure the "benefits" are all that great. I smell the scent of authoritarianism and I don't like it.
authoritarianism? do you mean from the gentrifiers?
I do. It seems like they have this sort of cultural order that they follow and are fairly rigid. And at the same time, rather naive that the world is vast and amazing and very fucked up. If that makes sense.
Yes, completely. Like a tribe. .
Thank you for sharing these artists, their public works (Youtube links) and putting such a thoughtful piece together. Gentrification is so complex and has devastating consequences. It was interesting hearing people talk about the inevitableness of change. The strength in community demonstrated by each part is something I want to find.
Thanks for your thoughts Diane. Gentrification is definitely not a black and white issue, and it's interesting to see it happen around me here in Bristol and thinking about my own part in it.
Great article - gentrification is such a problem everywhere.. and then it’s hard to not be part of the problem ourselves. I live in LA - which as you covered is bonkers when it comes to real estate. We’ve been thinking of moving to Mexico where we can afford something but then we’d be part of the gentrification issue there! It’s a no-win game!
Wow moving to Mexico to find housing solutions... that seems like a big leap. I was listening to an interesting podcast the other day about America's Big City brain drain because of housing: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-daily/id1200361736?i=1000615404841
Mexico is actually right next to California so not a big leap at all. Many Americans move there - it used to be retirees but now with remote work it’s young folks too. Mexico City particularly has become very very gentrified and rents have skyrocketed (there’s a few articles about this in the LA Times etc).
Interesting interesting...
Great piece. I love how you acknowledge that you are part of - or have benefited from - the issue of gentrification. It's a tricky subject and has a knock-on effect for everyone. I know many families who have migrated north to where I live in Sheffield in the UK from the south because they can't afford to buy in their own home city. This means of course that younger generations such as my children are getting priced out of the local housing market, yet we benefited because our own home sold very quickly for much more than we paid for it (to Londoners! ; )
All that aside, the artwork you share here is amazing, and the short film and photographs about Pier 52 very touching. Thank you for sharing : )
Thanks for your kind words Kate, glad to hear you enjoyed the art too. Pier 52 has got such an interesting history, I feel like there's a really good research project waiting there for someone. I wonder how many of the men in that community survived the onslaught of HIV/AIDS.
About gentrification, it's such a complicated issue with winners who can also be losers too. I feel like we were losers because we had to move away from our life in London. And we've made other people into losers here in Bristol.
The benefits outweigh the negatives but only if the negatives are considered and mitigated to the best of our ability. Thank-you for such an interesting post with some fascinating art to look at . I knew nothing of these people or their work, so this is exactly why I'm here!
I'm so pleased to hear this, Sarah, I really appreciate you reading!
Another excellent, thought provoking article and introduction to artists making important, valuable work.
I agree with Tyler's comment that gentrification is just the symptom of a deeply flawed political system that enables, encourages (& even ultimately forces) the security of a lucky few to be at the expense of those in the margins who must accept an increasingly precarious rental system. This could be reversed if the government - and therefore the people, chose to vote that way.
Thanks for your thoughts, Lucy. It is interesting to see how other countries manage housing more successfully. I'd be interested to learn more about what they do in Austria and Singapore. I do feel a bit hopeless about whether things can ever change here in the UK. There would have to be such a massive overhaul of political ideas and will (on lots of things, not just this issue!). We just push bits of paper around, one party to the next.
An interesting post, as always. It’s made me think about the word ‘gentrification’. It’s so loaded with emotion and political ideology. As a writer I think about terminology and you’ve given me something to ponder on here.
In my own experience I’ve bought houses, done them up with my own blood, sweat, and hard-earned money, then sold at a profit (most of the time). So, I guess, I’m totally invested in gentrification which has its positive and negative aspects. Lots more conversations to have about homes and the way we live!
I hadn't thought about the word, but now you point it out, yes it's totally loaded! I think housing will be top of the agenda in the UK for a very long time... It feels quite desperate for the people caught up in the rental crisis in London particularly. I sometimes think 'there but by the grace of god go I'
Thanks for this essay. The gentrification issue is one I've thought about a lot over the years and I can relate to the tension of having certain privileges that contributing to the process of displacement, even unintentionally, and being aware of that while feeling frustrated about how you're placed within the cycle of gentrification.
There's also a hierarchy to gentrification, which means that those with some means, but not the most means, often lack the full range of options, and thus move into more affordable areas, but as a result of certain status(es), make the area more amenable to more privileged classes. Low-income artists are a famous example of this, as they're drawn to neighbourhoods that have the space and 'character' they like but in moving into such areas, make it "cool," causing middle-income professionals to move in, before the wealthy make their claim. You see this in expensive cities from Vancouver to Melbourne, but also in relatively "affordable" cities as you've noticed with Bristol.
Ultimately, I think a lot of folks get stuck on "I don't know what the solution is." And honestly, I don't have all the answers either, as I'm still learning and pondering. But we're often looking for incremental changes or reforms to the existing system so that the comforts of those who can have a say aren't disrupted too much in the process (not saying this is you or anyone in particular). The housing crisis is a major issue across the world and isn't being fixed by density bonuses and YIMBY-at-all-costs rhetoric.
If we can agree that housing is a basic human right, which most seem to, then it begs the question of why we've allowed it to become so commodified and treated as an asset or investment above all else. This process should be ridiculed as much as the left (and centre to some extent) ridicule encroaching healthcare privatization. The solution to this conundrum is to de-commodify housing as much as possible. Which is, yes, radical, and probably something most with the ability to move the needle on this don't want to do because they tend to have greater access to wealth in our society. But, if we can decouple housing from capitalist frameworks, it can lead to healthier, more sustainable communities that can maintain themselves without the threat of a bike lane causing a rise in rents. Because we should all have bike lanes in our neighbourhoods. In the Anglosphere, we've moved so far beyond this that it seems unrealistic or far-fetched, but it wasn't that long ago that governments were investing much more in public housing, and in some places, they still constitute a significant portion of homes (Austria, Singapore).
Thanks for all your thoughts Tyler, the pattern of gentrification is clear as you have laid out, and I agree with you that having a roof over your head should be a basic for everyone. I'd be interested to see how other countries achieve it successfully. In Germany there seems to be a good system for keeping rents down, where everyone isn't rushing to buy homes either, but I don't know much about it.
My studio is in Hackney Wick, a formerly industrial area that artists claimed in all its grittiness to set up studios. It was one of London's most famous artist quarters before gentrification began: the irony is that the same developers that are now tearing down the studios, replacing them with blocks of flats, and pushing all the artists out, have the gall to market these new builds as being located in the artist quarter!
What I wonder is who in the hell can afford these new swanky flats?
Who indeed!