A coffee break for gentrification
Gentrification has become the biggest sin of the modern coffee cup. The overpriced latte, a universal omen that rent will soon be too high. However, the coronavirus has hit the pause button on everything, and the interlaced dynamic of large cities is no exception: “Now that the world is basically falling apart, gentrification is cancelled”, says Allison Arieff, editorial director for the urban planning think tank SPUR (San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association).
For years, the arrival of cultural capital triggered the ostracism of entire social groups, and no corner fights the change as actively, as 2415 East Cesar Chavez Avenue in Boyle Heights (Los Angeles). Ever since a big sign saying “Coffee” appeared in the neighbourhood in 2017, the Latino community has protested the shop vehemently enough to reach the international press on several occasions.
Inequality is at the core of the displacement but design self selects for income undeniably. Dan Pashman, host of The Sporkful podcast, questioned this phenomenon in a series titled “Who is this restaurant for?”: “We are all conditioned to pick up on the subtle cues of spaces. Those who design them make choices that elicit that feeling of comfort for specific people”, he observes.
Since aesthetics are heavily linked to class, it is not surprising that across the street from the controversial sign that enrages East LA one finds a McDonald’s. “That kind of chain doesn’t pose a threat to the community”, clarifies the LA Times reporter, Julia Barajas, who grew up in the area. Cafés are “symptoms”, not the “virus” behind the dark side of gentrification and to the eyes of Arieff, these reactions are “understandable but late” and directed to the wrong target: “If the current systems and policies weren’t failing so many people, those cafés wouldn't be a concern”.
For a while, they won’t be. The cafés of all major cities are all boarded up and, if an extensive number of small businesses can’t make it through the economic backlash, cities will suffer deep consequences. Vacancy can be a synonym of crime: “When you have a lot of empty storefronts there are no eyes on the street”, highlights Arieff in a wink to urban activist Jane Jacobs.
However, seeing politicians dare to address sheltering the homeless, by reclaiming an emptied building or tending to the inaccessibility of rent, gives her hope. The housing crisis that emerged from massive tourism and Airbnb revenue has slowed down thanks to covid-19 and the discovery of working from home might revitalize small towns. Pashman has a more pessimistic reading for the future of neighbourhoods: “The people who have a lot of money aren’t going to lose much and investors who want to pump money on things that will bring profit. My working theory is that this will enhance the homogenization of restaurants”.
Cities are a living organism and they never stop changing. In 1990 the opening of the first McDonald’s in East Berlin was received with rocks and fire. “Not a single Big Mac will make it across the Berlin Wall”, chanted the crowds. The cold war made hamburgers a symbol of severe economic consequences for the working class. Nearly thirty years later, early day workers of Los Angeles witnessed similar actions directed to the first “nice” coffee shop of Boyle Heights while finishing their Big Macs from across the street.
Foam milk was the expression of the unequal DNA of the economy before covid-19 and what our days of hoarding toilet paper and yeast will reveal about the systematic changes in our globalized society, we shall find out soon.
Sources:
Zoom Interview with Julia Barajas, April 13th 2020
Zoom Interview with Allison Arieff, April 14th 2020
Zoom Interview with Dan Pashman, April 15 2020
Zoom interview with architect Diana Mera Hernando, April 17th 2020
Boyle Heights tour with Efe correspondent, David Villafranca, who witnessed first handed the Weird Wave protests in 2017.
Jacobs, Jane (1961): The Life and Death of Great American Cities, Random House, 1st edition, New York, 1961.
REUTERS: “East Germans Balk at McDonald’s Plans”, LA Times, July 31st 1990.
The Economist (1986): Style Guide: The best welling guide to English usage, 12th edition, Profile Books Ltd, London, 2018.