Sunday, February 21, 2010

Another Contrarian's Lament

Today's NY Times energized me in a positive way today rather than making my hair stand on end in terror. The "Metropolitan" section ran a piece on Brooklyn College professor Sharon Zukin titled A Contrarian’s Lament in a Blitz of Gentrification.

The article describes the gentrification process as limned by Ms. Zukin:

"The pattern in places like Williamsburg and Atlantic Yards, Ms. Zukin said, is dreary and inexorable: Middle-class “pioneers” buy brownstones and row houses. City officials rezone to allow luxury towers, which swell the value of the brownstones. And banks and real estate companies unleash a river of capital, flushing out the people who gave the neighborhoods character."

Ms. Zukin will be discussing her book “Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places” tomorrow evening at the CUNY Graduate Center. Alas, though free, the event is sold out. I can console myself with the book, but how can I bond with the other attendees?

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