Adventures of Urban Life

Desiree Caro
The Book There Goes The Hood, by Lance Freeman, reviews the ongoing gentrification in two primarily African American neighborhoods: Harlem and Clinton Hills. The author argues that the responses recorded by other literary works of the neighborhood residents undergoing gentrification are not necessarily accurate. The usual claims made about gentrified neighborhoods are that the residents are optimistic and receptive of the changes being made. While Freeman does really contend these statements, he adds that residents are not as excited as they have previously been portrayed. There are many aspects to the effects of gentrification on a neighborhood such as access to resources, affordable housing, displacement, social conflict, and disinvestment. Freeman realizes there are both positive and negative sides to the issue of gentrification and that there is a definite motive behind gentrification of certain neighborhoods.
Race and class play a major role within this book because both of the areas discussed are well known African American neighborhoods. The connotation behind gentrification of certain areas is that something is not right within these neighborhoods and they need to be “fixed” in order to fit in with social norms. Gentrification causes social conflict between indigenous inhabitants of the neighborhood and the new-comers. Gentrified neighborhoods usually attract new white people into areas where minority cultures and customs have been in place for decades before. New comers may feel that some of the customs of African Americans or other minority groups are a sign of disorganization. For example, groupings on street corners, loud talking or music, and street vendors are native to areas like Harlem and Clinton Hills; however, to outsiders this can be seen as a nuisance or a sign of uncivilized behavior. These issues can change the social pattern of an entire area for the future.
While Freeman realizes there can be some positive aspects of gentrification such as accessibility to more resources like supermarkets, clothing stores, and drug stores, it’s a big price to pay. An important point made by Freeman in this book is that it does not matter how wonderful gentrification makes a neighborhood if the original inhabitants cannot afford to live there. This point proves that gentrification is not based on the needs of the original neighborhood but rather on the needs of the economy and the capitalist society.
This book had very strong ties to themes we have discussed in class. Gentrification has huge effect on urban areas, from how space is distributed to displacement of people and families. I feel that this book is a great representation of how the population of Harlem and Clinton Hills actually feel about the situation. It does not promote only one side of the story, but realizes that people are torn the situation. It confronts the idea that people are either for gentrification or against it and shows that a lot of residents of these neighborhoods have mixed feelings. Either way, gentrification has a huge impact on society on social, geographical, and economical levels and many people are affected by it daily.