Comments on: Boston Globe: Moving In, Moving Out http://bostonchinatowngateway.com/archives/382 Boston Chinatown's first blog Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:36:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Chinatown Blogger http://bostonchinatowngateway.com/archives/382#comment-2079 Chinatown Blogger Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:41:27 +0000 http://bostonchinatowngateway.com/archives/382#comment-2079 <p><p>cathyj: Thanks for your comments. There are many different opinions about gentrification and this is a phenomena that is occurring in many parts of the world. My pragmatist-view was shaped by my experience of seeking the truth (if there is one) of what happens to a neighborhood like Chinatown when gentrification occurs. Pro-development will give the pie-in-the-sky scenario: new developments will eliminate crime, increase commercial activity, improve streets/sidewalks, etc... whereas the anti-gentrification groups will claim that one day Chinatown will be shell and all the residents will be pushed out. These arguments make for good headlines but the reality lies somewhere in the middle. If new developments will increase commercial activity, why is the ground floor of the Archstone vacant? (search my post for vacant commercial properties). Yes, the Asian residential population is declining but I try to hint at different posts that Chinatown is not only for the Chinese but should be inclusive of all groups. In order to increase homeownership rates (less than 10% currently) in the community, this results in gentrification. The challenge is how the community can influence and utilize development policies to protect the existing residential-base and expand to include new residents. I'll will write a follow-up on this post later with further analysis but I have to finish the 2nd part about the history of the Unity Mural.</p></p> <p>cathyj: Thanks for your comments. There are many different opinions about gentrification and this is a phenomena that is occurring in many parts of the world. My pragmatist-view was shaped by my experience of seeking the truth (if there is one) of what happens to a neighborhood like Chinatown when gentrification occurs. Pro-development will give the pie-in-the-sky scenario: new developments will eliminate crime, increase commercial activity, improve streets/sidewalks, etc… whereas the anti-gentrification groups will claim that one day Chinatown will be shell and all the residents will be pushed out. These arguments make for good headlines but the reality lies somewhere in the middle. If new developments will increase commercial activity, why is the ground floor of the Archstone vacant? (search my post for vacant commercial properties). Yes, the Asian residential population is declining but I try to hint at different posts that Chinatown is not only for the Chinese but should be inclusive of all groups. In order to increase homeownership rates (less than 10% currently) in the community, this results in gentrification. The challenge is how the community can influence and utilize development policies to protect the existing residential-base and expand to include new residents. I’ll will write a follow-up on this post later with further analysis but I have to finish the 2nd part about the history of the Unity Mural.</p>

]]> By: cathyj http://bostonchinatowngateway.com/archives/382#comment-2077 cathyj Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:14:08 +0000 http://bostonchinatowngateway.com/archives/382#comment-2077 dear chinatown b., my thoughts are that i also saw this article and cringed my way through it. i admire your even-handedness and your pragmatic view of urban development. my wife, who's lived her whole life in boston, has the same realistic view of cities--they are always changing. to put it metaphorically, gaiety theaters are always being torn down and archstone boston commons are always going up, generation after generation. i realize that i am a knee-jerk defender of the small, old and "affordable," probably because i grew up in a large, new, affluent suburb. but it burns me that working-class and poor people are being driven out of chinatown, just as it burns me that the fenway, where i live, is also losing its economic diversity, and that the north end, where i work, is losing its ethnic identity (even though there are some things about north-end culture that really bug me). maybe it's romantic to hope that places like chinatown can continue as working-class communities. but it's not like the people who are being displaced are necessarily moving into other parts of the city. i would think (and you know much more about this than i do) that a lot of them are going to quincy or what have you. if only rich people can afford to live in the center of boston, i think that's a loss. dear chinatown b., my thoughts are that i also saw this article and cringed my way through it. i admire your even-handedness and your pragmatic view of urban development. my wife, who’s lived her whole life in boston, has the same realistic view of cities–they are always changing. to put it metaphorically, gaiety theaters are always being torn down and archstone boston commons are always going up, generation after generation. i realize that i am a knee-jerk defender of the small, old and “affordable,” probably because i grew up in a large, new, affluent suburb.

but it burns me that working-class and poor people are being driven out of chinatown, just as it burns me that the fenway, where i live, is also losing its economic diversity, and that the north end, where i work, is losing its ethnic identity (even though there are some things about north-end culture that really bug me). maybe it’s romantic to hope that places like chinatown can continue as working-class communities. but it’s not like the people who are being displaced are necessarily moving into other parts of the city. i would think (and you know much more about this than i do) that a lot of them are going to quincy or what have you. if only rich people can afford to live in the center of boston, i think that’s a loss.

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