The way I look at it is even though there isn’t anything inherently evil with wanting a bigger lane so you can ride your bike comfortably, or wanting to grow healthy greens on some rooftop in North Brooklyn, these things are symptomatic of the gentrification that has watered down the character of so many neighborhoods. There is a desperate need for attention that comes with so much of this, that makes the effort come off as superficial.
When I was a little kid, my grandfather grew tomatos and string beans on a little strip of land on the side of his house in Manhattan Beach. Other neighbors grew different things, and they would just trade these with each other. They never thought to call attention to themselves or create an identity out of it.
In 2011, when the gentrificationers plant something, it immediately gets placed on their blog, and flyers are put up in the local $6 soy latte emporium, where they take great pains to mention over and over about how they are supporting ‘local farmers markets, etc etc’, and they bask in a self-identification as an ‘urban farmer’.
When I was growing up, there were always a good amount of people relocating to NYC from other places - the difference was that they mostly seemed to just want to assimilate into their new surroundings, and their addition was a plus - they are just as much New Yorkers as me in my book. It now seems that the current wave wants to come here to use NYC as a coffee table conversation piece.
Unfortunately, I think I’ve just done nothing but prove that Jeremiah is correct - it is hard to put your finger on. Hopefully readers smarter than myself can at least understand what I’m trying to say.
http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2011/05/ideas-for-new-city.html?showComment=1304968433471#c6933874384799242205
