redevelopmentghetto.jpg

nobody@vox.com(jasonpettus) — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:44:33 -0500

Since starting to go to Pause Cafe regularly this summer, there's a section of Sheridan Road between Wilson and Lawrence I bicycle through all the time; I call it the "Redevelopment Ghetto," and here's why... In general it's a noble thing the owners of the real estate in this two-block area are doing; they're doing a lot of new development, a lot of new construction, trying to jump-start a new interest in the neighborhood, more money, more safety, more options, more jobs, etc. But for those who don't know, this is a neighborhood that's been infamously shitty for decades now, and still is in certain quarters; and for those who have never spent time regularly in such a neighborhood, among lots of other long-term effects it means that the locals mark very little difference between "public" space (sidewalks, parks) and "private" (your yard, your building's lawn, your cafe's outdoor seating). In effect it creates this real schism in such "redevelopment zones," a monkeywrench in the plans to get the middle-class to feel safe enough to move in; because this is one of the very premises of the middle-class itself, this distinction between public and private space, this idea that your middle-class hard work is what gives you the privilege of the manicured lawns and outdoor cafe tables. If some crazy smelly homeless curse-word-swearing nutjob can sit down right next to you, can ruin your middle-class privilege that easily, what's the point of putting in all the hard work to become middle-class in the first place? As a result, then, smart redevelopment land owners are constantly having to think up smart new ideas for placing physical barriers up on their properties, literal fences that separate this privileged middle-class private outdoor space from the public space like sidewalks where the usual crazy homeless junkies go wandering around muttering to themselves and peeing in their pants. In the '50s and '60s, of course, the way to do this was very obvious and not that intelligent at all; literally put up walls, fences and the like, making such inner-city erections feel more like fortresses than pleasant middle-class habitations. That was the lesson learned, in fact, from those redevelopment projects in that period that all failed; that you can't slap up literal fences and walls to create this space, because you then drive away the very middle-class urban adventurers you need to transform the neighborhood. Take the building shown here, for example, within this redevelopment ghetto on Sheridan I mentioned. Ultimately it's presenting a cool private outdoor space for all the middle-class condo owners who move in; those nifty patios you're seeing, all slanty and glass just like the middle-class urban adventurers love. And then on the first two floors there's an ingenious semi-public space as well, for social interaction with your fellow middle-class adventurers; a mini-mall, that is, completely enclosed, with the natural intimidation of a consumerist space (and paid security guards) to naturally keep out the dirty homeless muttering junkies. And thus do you build that wall you need between the middle-class and the rest of that neighborhood, that makes the middle-class feel safe and thus populate the neighborhood more and more; but you don't literally build a wall anymore, but merely place your outdoor space up in the air, and a virtual wall that blocks out the poor in shifty but legal ways. The reason I call this space between Wilson and Lawrence a redevelopment "ghetto," then, is because there's literally something like six such projects found there, all of them built in the last decade, creating this great little two-block area for the middle-class that doesn't hold a damn thing of interest for the poor, addicted and crazy who have lived in the neighborhood for the past several decades. I'm not saying any of this is ethically right or ethically wrong; I think there are arguments to be made for both conclusions, in fact. I'm just saying that it's happening in this particular part of the city, as well as others, and that these projects are apparently popular because more and more of them keep getting built. It's changing the very nature of this neighborhood, in fact, literally one block at a time.

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Total distance bicycled this week: 42 miles!

nobody@vox.com(jasonpettus) — Sat, 12 May 2007 16:54:55 -0500

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Prognosis: A little sore, but still good for another ride.

nobody@vox.com(jasonpettus) — Sun, 06 May 2007 11:22:53 -0500

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I Am A Camera

redevelopmentghetto.jpg

Total distance bicycled this week: 42 miles!

Prognosis: A little sore, but still good for another ride.