Stuff White People Like: Gentrification
Have you guys heard of this site, Stuff White People Like? It's hilarious and I find that more than a few of the things on their list apply to me (even though I can only claim to be half white). Here's one that's related to the ongoing Seattle vs. The Eastside debate: Gentrification.
An excerpt:
An excerpt:
Stuff White People Like wrote:White people like to live in these neighborhoods because they get credibility and respect from other white people for living in a more "authentic" neighborhood where they are exposed to "true culture" every day. So whenever their friends mention their home in the suburbs or richer urban area, these people can say "oh, it's so boring out there, so fake. In our neighborhood, things are just more real." This superiority is important as white people jockey for position in their circle of friends.
Comments
The whole anti-Eastside thing is annoying. I just moved (back) to the Eastside after living in a number of different locations in King County, in Seattle, and not in Seattle. For the wife and I, it fits our needs with respect to:
-proximity to jobs that *we* work at
-proximity to things that *we* like to do at the weekend (hiking, biking, chilling out on the deck with the nice view from a house that didn't cost over a million bucks)
We still go to Seattle to the art museum, sports events (when free tickets demand my attendance), restaurants and to see friends. We're able to do so because we have this invention called a "car" which, by the way, we use less now because we're closer to our jobs.
Some people with the anti-Eastside bent seem to to think that the only way for everyone to live is within walking distance of a coffee shop and with constant 15 minute access to the art museum.
If anyone out there with this anti-Eastside disease is reading this, take a while to consider why you're so judgmental when other people choose to live somewhere different to where you live. Consider that there needs, desires, and situation may be different to yours.
You've never heard people who hold the eastside in utter contempt? You must not know very many yuppies/hipsters/dinks then...
But I don't hold you in contempt. It's better tha we corral all the boring people in one place anyway! Keeps the parties on the cool side hopping!
That was a joke. Mostly.
I never get over to the Eastside. If that is where they keep all the people who desperately want other people to hate them, it seems like a fine place to put those people...
I don't hate you. Its much worse than that. I just don't care.
Oh, back on topic... I live in a "gentrified" neighborhood. 16th and Spruce near First Hill... And yes, that makes me better than all of you, I'm quite certain of it...
p.s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm
"I live in a "gentrified" neighborhood. 16th and Spruce near First Hill.."
Maybe it's a sign of gentrification, but dude,it's not simply near First Hill, it's the CD. Spittin distance from Home of Good, a Seattle Barbecue institution.
But, I'm a white person, I can't live in the Central District, so this must not be the CD...
(see p.s. on my previous post)
And yeah, they do good BBQ there...
Don't get me wrong, I'm as opposed to cookie-cutter housing developments as the next guy, and I don't like to see places lose whatever makes them special. But why the animosity for areas that have less crime and better schools?
Absolutely. It's very wide-spread. Seattle isn't as bad as other cities, but the list of places where you "should" and "should not" live is still fairly pervasive, although it certainly varies with demographic.
The funny thing is that the same yuppies/hipsters/dinks (I'm a dink myself BTW) that go on and on about how the Eastside is boring and they could *never* live there, well, they end up getting a job at Microsoft, getting married and having kids. Suddenly the Central District doesn't seem so appealing and they move to Issaquah for the schools and the commute. Their priorities change...
A sign of not having lived for a particularly long time seems to be a lack of empathy with regards to the decisions of others.
Thanks. I appreciate your sincere and considered response and wish you all the best for your future.
"Near First Hill". Are you saying you live "near" somewhere because you live in the Central District and don't want to say you do? It's fine to live in the CD - I don't care where you or anyone else wants to live - it's just funny to see watch location-snobbery in action.
No, the problem is that most of the time that I tell someone that I live in the central district, they have no idea where that is. So I used to always followup with "near first hill" which they'd know. Gradually over time I just started to skip trying to explain the central district...
You're not supposed to clean it. Then it wouldn't be hip and "real" anymore. (This is actually somewhat serious. I read an article about a couple that moved into the Castro district in San Fran and started an organization to clean the place up, but they started to face opposition from other residents that did not want it to be clean there. They wanted to keep the place dirty and crime ridden.)
It isn't people living in bad neighborhoods that's annoying, it's the people bragging about how bad their neighborhood is and how much more authentic they are than you for living in a bad neighborhood.
While it's true that some Seattle dwellers, like me, may have engaged in anti-East side snark on occasion, I want to correct the implication that denizens of Bellevue, Redmond, etc. are the victims of persecution and we are a bunch of snotty bullies. I used to work for a high-tech firm in Bellevue that drew most of its workers from the more immediate area, and the amount of crap I took on a daily basis was notable, much of it coming from a place of assumed economic superiority on the part of the speaker -- Eastsiders made jokes about me going home to a crummy Capitol Hill squat and doing bong hits all night (I didn't), hanging out in basements watching godawful bands and waiting for fights to break out (I didn't), smoking my head off in coffee shops yammering about existentialism (I didn't) -- and "Can't you even afford a *car*?" was the frequent exasperated response when I'd try to cadge a ride to, say, an off-site company event. I cast no aspersions on the Eastsiders who have been posting, of course, but, guys, some of your brethren are guilty of exactly the same thing you seem to be suggesting that we Westsiders collectively are. I plead for a little perspective among all parties, that's all. (And when you write a sentence like that, that's when you know you have officially renounced the Midwest and become one with Seattle. Lattes for everyone!)
Perfectfire's point above, though -- "It isn't people living in bad neighborhoods that's annoying, it's the people bragging about how bad their neighborhood is and how much more authentic they are than you for living in a bad neighborhood" -- is very well put. It's annoying even to those of us who have lived in sketchy neighborhoods and kept our mouths shut about it. Perhaps we can be better about educating our friends in this regard.
Lamont, I used to live on Spruce between 13th and 14th, then moved a few blocks over to Marion. I loved it there.
Yeah, its cheap rent and when I used to work in the ID I used to be able to walk to work (now its just a short drive down the waterfront for a commute).
Interesting, though, that if I claim I'm living in the CD, I'm an uptight white liberal. If I don't claim I live in the CD I'm guilty of location-snobbery. And if I crack jokes about Livin in Da Hood I guess that just makes me White and Nerdy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xEzGIuY7kw).
I would think the circumstances should be very clear. If I have a job in Bellevue/Redmond, I want to live on the East Side. If I have a job in Seattle proper, I want to live in Seattle. Other than this comment though, I agree with your assessment that many people on both sides of the drink seem elitist about it. The rest of my rant is a general rant, and not directed at your comments Civil Servant.
It is completely irrational to live someplace far from your job for the 'culture', unless you are specifically avoiding a culture of fear and danger. So if you live in the central district because it's hip, then you are a fake. Renton is one of the dirties most 'real' cities in the area. So let's see all those hipsters who want to be real move out to Renton or perhaps to Delridge and then brag about how they have bars on their windows and it all feels so real.
Likewise, if you live in Bellevue to look wealthy and be elitist, get over yourself. You're the guy everyone will point out as an example of wasting money when you're homeless and penniless after the recession/depression sets in. Living in a Bellevue condo doesn't make you better than everyone else (or anyone else) any more than eating a hundred dollar steak does.
That said, if you live someplace 'real' because it's all you can afford, then you've got my empathy.
Thanks for your non-ranty response, which I appreciate. But for me and many of my friends it is not that simple. Sure, I want to work for the organization that affords me the best opportunities + compensation + stability. I also do not enjoy driving all that much and have a defect in my eyes that has decimated my night vision. So it's important to me to live within walking/convenient bus-riding distance from work, errands, restaurants, regional transportation hubs, and shopping. I also know people who want the freedom to push it above BAC .08 if bonhomie strikes and not have to sweat a punitive cabfare home, as they would, for instance, on the East side. (Look at us, keeping the roads safe for you!) Work is only one factor in many people's decision as to where to put down stakes.
The CD may have had some gentrification, but still retains some neighborhood flavor(BBQ?), but Madison Valley, on the other hand, used to almost be an extension of the CD, but now has wine bars, fine chocolate shops, French restaurants, and rich white people. They've washed the urine off the sidewalks with Perrier. There goes the neighborhood.
Point well taken. I didn't mean to focus entirely on location relative to work, which can change by the way, but rather a balance of location compared to what you actually do. I suppose, if someone attended every single home Mariner's game (81 of those), they might reasonably place a priority on living near the stadium. Also, good point regarding the transit in Seattle. The busing system and rail in Seattle is much better than anything on the East Side.
The TV tells them they need a germ-free life, with various corporate products, to live a happy and fulfilled life. The TV repeats this over and over, in gentle and reassuring ways that make those watching feel good about themselves.
The TV tells them to distrust people who act and look different from whiteys. The TV tells them to look after and protect the whitey group's needs, rather than the needs of the individual, even though individuality is what nourishes and therefore protects the group.
People who face ethnic and cultural diversity on a day-to-day basis are forced to think outside the TV mentality. This is healthy for the community.
Living amongst whiteys in a protected homogeneic community is the TV-inspired dream. This is not the dream you and I would think of on our own. This is the dream of corporations and central bankers who live to control entire populations with gentle, mass mind control mechanisms such as the mass media and the TV/radio. This is the dream of people who have the heart of a small rodent, who want nothing less than absolute power. These people are not gods. These people are vampires, feasting off the trust and passivity of well-meaning people.
Do not trust the TV. Do not trust the mainstream media. Do not trust false leaders.
The Eastside appears out of line with Seattle because Seattle is a conscious city, attracting many conscious people. However, the Eastside is a constant reminder of what the rest the USA is like these days.
Wow.
Tin foil conspiracy with a healthy splash of racism. A combination you rarely see!
But wait... Is it technically racism if it's against white people? </rhetorical question>