Gentrification became a buzzword in my life in mid 90s San Francisco as the piles of tech bubble money transformed sleepy and derelict bits of town into burgeoning yuppie neighborhoods. Vacancy rates shot down to lower than one percent while rents shot up to theretofore unimaginable heights. It was a funny, uncomfortable time, especially as I had none of that money myself. Ostensibly, I have always been on the forefront of this recently calamitous social ill. Apparently, having lived in both the late 90's Mission District and in early 2000's Williamsburg, and by virtue of being white, young, artsy and from a middle class background, I have been the very catalyst for catastrophe. By moving to a place I could find a job, and where I knew someone who could find me a cheap apartment, I instigated, twice, the perceived destruction of a purportedly indigenous culture. But if I did all that only to participate in making this poster possible, I think that's all reason enough to thank me.
No comments:
Post a Comment