Summary: "Gentrification doesn't need to be something one group inflicts on another," argues New York Magazine architecture critic Justin Davidson. He talks about how NYC neighborhood like Inwood and Bed-Stuy change over time, and whether "gentrification" deserves its bad reputation. "We need to define gentrification as separate from the process of displacement" says @JDavidsonNYC — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) February 6, 2014 Gentrification doesn't need to be something that one group inflicts on another; often it’s the result of aspirations everybody shares. All over the city, a small army of the earnest toils away, patiently trying to sluice some of the elitist taint off neighborhoods as they grow richer. When you’re trying to make a poor neighborhood into a nicer place to live, the prospect of turning it into a racially and economically mixed area with thriving stores is not a threat but a fantasy. As the cost of basic city life keeps rising, it’s more important than ever to reclaim a form of urban improvement from its malignant offshoots. A nice neighborhood should be not a luxury but an urban right. -- Justin Davidson in New York Magazine
