Community
“I recently moved [to the Bronx] from Queens because of financial difficulties and do not believe the neighborhood fosters a positive environment. However gentrification in general can strip one’s culture because, as one of my fellow participants mentioned, they have lived in their community their entire lives, therefore their neighborhood is a part of their identity and culture. Gentrification can deconstruct a pre-existing society and tear apart community relations”
“Predominantly only one race is moving into my neighborhood now, so it’s like young, rich white people... and the rent is going up tremendously. But it’s like people forgot that there’s low income people in this neighborhood... it forces families to move out to different places where it’s unknown to them, which I think is a very messed up situation. I don’t understand how people can move in and take everything over, and live in better living conditions than the locals who have been here. It bothers me.”
Selected quotes
“I have a backyard in my apartment building, and I have— me and my mother have, like, parties there… anybody could come and eat as long as you come in and enjoying yourself and stuff like that. When she went to the store to get ice before the party, she’ll tell them, yeah, you’re invited to come to the party if you want to and they’ll laugh and stuff. You know people don’t really come but they’ll still laugh and say I’m coming, I’m coming! And sometimes they’ll really come and enjoy and get a plate.”
“Everyone is very friendly and also there is a public park, so everyone hangs out there. There is an elementary school there so parents around the neighborhood know each other and there’s always like activities where the community comes together and just hang out and stuff. ”
Issues related to community
Gentrification disrupts community along multiple trajectories, including displacement of existing populations and shifting stores, food options, and demographics.
Public space was a big part of the conversation when it came to people’s sense of community—some people pointed to trash, lighting, or rats that made them uncomfortable in their neighborhoods, while others talked about the way people would come together in public spaces to play music or spend time together.
Whether people felt at home in their community was often dependent on the relationships they had with family and friends in the neighborhood, regardless of overall levels of safety
Significance & Analysis
Human rights: community relationships provide a starting point for meaningful participation by affected communities
Relationships within neighborhood communities shape how participants engage the law, which supports insights from literature about relational legal consciousness
Public spaces are crucial to people’s sense of safety and well-being, both because of the experience individuals have when they are in those spaces and because of the opportunities to forge community relationships in those spaces.