9:11pm May 4, 2014

“Gentrification does not solve poverty, it merely shunts the poor out of the city…”

—

Oakland: the city that told Google to get lost | The Guardian

“A few blocks away, Maggie Larios, 30, a latina single mother sharing a cramped apartment with her two children, is all too aware of that choice. She earns just enough from a care-home job to pay the $685 monthly rent. But the landlord who owns the block is trying to evict her and other tenants who have complained about mould, cockroaches and broken windows. They suspect the neglect is intended to oust them so he can get in more lucrative tenants.

"The mould has made me sick,” Larios croaks, indicating her throat. “When we went to court one of my neighbours had bugs on her. You should’ve seen the judge’s face.” With her budget, Larios stands little chance of finding another apartment in Oakland. “I don’t want to be homeless. My kids and I went through a very bad experience in shelters.” But inevitably they will be priced out, she says. “It’s gonna happen. A few years ago, to see a white person here was unseen footage. Now you see them walking the street even at night.” Resistance could perhaps slow but not halt gentrification, she says. “Money talks, bullshit walks.” Larios has kept one asset in reserve for emergencies: her long, luxuriant hair. “When the time comes I can sell it for $400.”“

(via america-wakiewakie)

This is exactly what happened to the building downtown here. They let it get bad and infested, then kicked out all the poor people living there, and now they’re completely fixing up the building to remodel it into upscale apartments.

(via locsgirl)

Same here in east liberty. They closed down schools and are putting up million dollar apartment complexes. Tore down projects for Target. Let the abandoned businesses get deplorable before buying and rehabing them. Local low income and poor folks cannot afford any of it. Any businesses that were okay prior to the gentrification have been priced out of their rent.

And since I live very close to all of it, just to get in my building you now pay 100 dollars more than I do and there have been no changes to the complex beyond what they typically do.

(via dynastylnoire)

Same with Chicago. Tore down the projects and put in LUXURY APARTMENTS that come at 900 a pop for a fucking STUDIO apartment. They want poor poc out of the city, Plain and simple.

(via sourcedumal)

They seem to have plans like this for many of the elderly/disabled low income housing projects in the area too which makes me very nervous.

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