Newcomers: Gentrification and Its Discontents

by Matthew L. Schuerman

Gentrification is transforming cities, small and large, across the country. Though it’s easy to bemoan the diminished social diversity and transformation of commercial strips that often signify a gentrifying neighborhood, determining who actually benefits and who suffers from this nebulous process can be much harder. The full story of gentrification is rooted in large-scale social and economic forces as well as in extremely local specifics—in short, it’s far more complicated than both its supporters and detractors allow.

In Newcomers , journalist Matthew L. Schuerman explains how a phenomenon that began with good intentions has turned into one of the most vexing social problems of our time. He builds a national story using focused histories of northwest Brooklyn, San Francisco’s Mission District, and the onetime site of Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing project, revealing both the commonalities among all three and the place-specific drivers of change. Schuerman argues that gentrification has become a too-easy flashpoint for all kinds of quasi-populist rage and pro-growth boosterism. In Newcomers , he doesn’t condemn gentrifiers as a whole, but rather articulates what it is they actually do , showing not only how community development can turn foul, but also instances when a “better” neighborhood truly results from changes that are good. Schuerman draws no easy conclusions, using his keen reportorial eye to create sharp, but fair, portraits of the people caught up in gentrification, the people who cause it, and its effects on the lives of everyone who calls a city home.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, American History, Sociology

320 pages, Hardcover

Published November 7, 2019

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I lived in a rent controlled building in one of the 5 most expensive cities in the US for 10 years. It was sold, there were paltry buyouts, and attempts to get people to leave so they could more than double the rent in an historic neighborhood that had only started with new development, and was full of generations of families.

This book is full of information. It looks at how three major cities have handled and mishandled growth and development differently. San Francisco sounds like a big ol' mess. It is meant to be unbiased and evenly told, and it is. But I still think landlords and developers are full of shady deals and the bad guys.

The thing that is missing from this book - and I get that the book isn't about this, and there's only so much room - is would gentrification be as much of a problem if we actually addressed the root cause? This is just another symptom of how we allow people to be poor, by not providing equal education, equal resources, and living wages. We are based on racism and if we acknowledge and address that, maybe housing opportunities could become a little more equitable.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little disappointing because the stories of Chicago, Brooklyn and the Mission District in SF seemed to highlight the machinations of municipal policy and this seemed obscure to me.. The final story about Brooklyn landlords and their illegal abuse of tenants were horrific.(e.g. deliberating deactivating plumbing systems to make their buildings uninhabitable).

[Sarah left GR]

Interview with the author: https://www.wbez.org/shows/reset-with...

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great! I loved this. Very information rich overview of the history of gentrification in SF, Chicago, and NYC. Serves less as a thesis on what to do as a cautionary tale of what not to do.