{"id":21316,"date":"2020-07-12T20:06:22","date_gmt":"2020-07-12T20:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=21316"},"modified":"2020-07-19T14:11:07","modified_gmt":"2020-07-19T14:11:07","slug":"in-changing-urban-neighborhoods-new-food-offerings-can-set-the-table-for-gentrification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/in-changing-urban-neighborhoods-new-food-offerings-can-set-the-table-for-gentrification\/","title":{"rendered":"In changing urban neighborhoods, new food offerings can set the table for gentrification"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joshua Sbicca<\/a>, Colorado State University<\/a><\/em>; Alison Alkon<\/a>, University of the Pacific<\/a><\/em>, and Yuki Kato<\/a>, Georgetown University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

When new residents and businesses move into low-income neighborhoods, they often deny that they are displacing current residents. In a striking exception, a coffee shop in Denver\u2019s rapidly changing Five Points area posted a sign<\/a> in 2017 that read \u201cink! Coffee. Happily gentrifying the neighborhood since 2014\u201d on one side, and \u201cNothing says gentrification like being able to order a cortado\u201d on the other side.<\/p>\n

The sign struck nerves and spurred protests because it illustrated something about urban residents\u2019 experiences of gentrification \u2013 changes that occur in moderately priced neighborhoods when more upscale residents and businesses move in.<\/p>\n

Gentrification fundamentally revolves around who gets to \u2013 or has to \u2013 live in particular places<\/a>. But the economics of housing changes cannot be separated from cultural shifts.<\/p>\n

When the type of food sold in an area changes, it provides a focal point for identifying gentrification. And it can lead residents to push back<\/a>. As co-editors of \u201cA Recipe for Gentrification: Food, Power, and Resistance in the City<\/a>\u201d and researchers<\/a> in our<\/a> own<\/a> right, we\u2019ve identified many ways that food and gentrification are linked in cities across North America.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Food offerings signal gentrification in this 2014 scene in South Brooklyn, NY, formerly a low-income Latino neighborhood.<\/span>
\nAndrew Lichtenstein\/Corbis via Getty Images<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eateries exploit the rent gap<\/h2>\n

While gentrification mainly results from large-scale developments recruited by city governments, well-intended small businesses and nonprofits can also play a role, particularly at early stages. Food businesses are among the first to change<\/a> in historically disinvested low-income communities and communities of color.<\/p>\n

Because they operate on narrow profit margins, restaurants and cafes are especially likely to exploit the \u201crent gap<\/a>\u201d \u2013 the disparity between current rent prices and perceived future earnings \u2013 that exists in these locales. They prepare neighborhoods for development, because food is a ubiquitous commodity and cultural cue.<\/p>\n

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In today\u2019s food-focused popular culture, cafes like ink! Coffee and upscale grocery stores like Whole Foods<\/a> have become essential tools local boosters use to brand neighborhoods as hip, creative places ripe for new investment<\/a>. Even restaurateurs act as small-scale developers. They add to the cultural capital<\/a> of their new neighborhoods, create cool new jobs<\/a> and drive up adjacent land values and housing costs. Whiter, wealthier and more educated customers participate in this process using social media platforms like Yelp<\/a> to craft changing tastes.<\/p>\n