Chatting it Out With Coach Lee: Pro-activity Beats Reactivity in Gentrification
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A “Just Action” Star Aldente: The Rothsteins
Richard and Leah Rothstein, the dynamic duo best known for the bestselling book “Just Action,” spill the beans on gentrification in their chat with Coach Lee Davenport.
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The Ghoul of Gentrification
The dreaded word ‘gentrification’ gets tossed around like a hacky-sack at a college hippy’s gathering, and just like the sack, it lands with an uncomfortable thud in our communities.
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Polarity, Legacy Residents, and Self-Storage Units
The Rothsteins highlight how gentrification has two faces like a real estate Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – one face brings along swanky bistros and Starbucks, and the other displaces legacy residents to self-storage units.
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Shaping the Decisions Without the Slightest Indecision
According to the Rothsteins, proactive steps from real estate professionals can form a protective bubble around legacy residents, like a real-life version of SimCity.
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Brick-and-Mortar Dreams and Nightmares:
Legacy residents have seen their neighborhoods evolve from the brick-and-mortar American dream into a nightmare of displacement. How do we ensure these spaces remain inclusive?
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Transformative Real Estate: The Rothstein’s Pipe Dream?
The Rothsteins envision real estate not just as a money-making machine but as a transformative tool for societies. But, the big question is, can this Utopian vision find legs in our capitalist reality?
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The Big G: Gentrification as a Double-Edged Sword
The Rothsteins point out that while gentrification can inject new life into languishing communities, it should not cost residents their homes or their cultural and emotional ties to the area.
The Witty Assistant’s Hot Take:
Now that you’re equipped with the Rothstein’s wisdom, you might feel like an urban planning guru. To reiterate, they’ve shared that gentrification needs an image revamp – from a rampaging Godzilla to a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. So let’s bid adieu to the gentrified ghoul, and explore how we can equip our “legacy residents” with economic suits of armor, just like Tony Stark.
The Rothsteins want real estate professionals to function as community superheroes. Instead of simply selling buildings and homes, they’re proposing a radical thought: to help shape our neighborhoods. In their utopian vision, realtors could double as guardians of the legacy residents, bearing the transformative power of real estate to counter the negative impacts of gentification.
As the Rothstein’s throw their gauntlet, it clearly isn’t about halt gentrification. After all, who doesn’t love a well-placed Starbucks or that tongue-tantalizing bistro in the corner? It’s about ensuring that this seismic shift doesn’t topple the homes of the residents who have their roots buried deep into the neighborhood’s soil.
To sum it up, what we need is a Michael Bay-style action flick featuring not only gentrification’s glittering sparkles of progress but also its ghoulish gory underside. But unlike Bay’s films, let’s strive for real world solutions, not just slow-motion explosions. So next time you’re out there, I hope you not only see the bricks, mortar, and potential dollar signs, but also the lives that fill these homes, their memories, their dreams, and the community that binds them.
Original article: https://www.inman.com/2024/01/15/this-mlk-day-its-time-to-put-people-over-profits/
