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themaskedewok t1_iwt8zw1 wrote

Reply to comment by downpat in Oak Bakeshop on east side has opened! (more details in comments) by n0m_chompsky

I work right in that area and have obviously noticed the gentrification over the last ~5 years. Rebel was a corner store, black and white was and is now this, there was a convenience store at the bottom.of Pleasant by Providence bagel that is gone. The multi-family homes are being renovated and sold as apartments or condos.

I also have witnessed less fights in the streets, less what appears to be drug traffic and there have been less shootings. People where being killed less than half a mile from million dollar homes. Do you think they'd buy a house for that much and not pressure for change in the area?

Also, is it really one of the city's only largely black neighborhoods? This is not a combative question, but an honest one.

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downpat t1_iwtaczt wrote

Pretty sure the “Black” neighborhoods of Providence consist only of South Providence and this part of Mt. Hope, what used to be called Lippitt Hill. Basing that only on my own experience and no demographic studies or anything, though. Either way - I’m certainly not saying the gentrification is a bad thing. I too have noticed its improvements. But this conversation should be happening. And my point was more that the kinds of businesses popping up in the area now would very likely tell you that gentrification is racist and wrong.

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themaskedewok t1_iwtbxkv wrote

It's funny because when you said "black" neighborhoods in your original comment, I thought of south prov after the east side area. The area between eddy, broad and south of the hospital. Which, let's be honest, is rough.

I agree this conversation needs to happen. I want to understand why you say it is racist. Is it because these new businesses charge more and that prices generational locals out of the area? And by doing that you are forcing people out of the area without explicitly making them leave? And if that is the assertion isn't that more classist than racist? Or is it racist because there neighborhoods are specifically targeted for this kind of thing?

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JoeFortune1 t1_iww1awn wrote

Class and race are tied together. This is how gentrification works. Businesses open without racist intentions but there are racial implications. The way our economy works, property values based on your neighbors value etc, when a neighborhood “improves” it becomes unlivable for people who can’t afford it and that tends to be a certain ethnicity being forced to relocate. From what I am told, Benefit street used to be a largely black neighborhood as well

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