Queens is such a diverse borough with people from different cultures and backgrounds, however, you may find that one area houses certain cultures or people than others. In Elmhurst, you will find a lot of Latino people, along with Latino small businesses. I lived in Elmhurst up until I was 15 years old, I have never even heard of gentrification till that point. It wasn’t till I moved to corona that I realized what was happening to the area I used to live in. A new chipotle store, along with a target opened up in Elmhurst. 15 year old me would see this as a great thing until you realize what is actually happening behind the scenes. Why would big-name stores like ”Target” and ”Chipotle” appear out of nowhere in a lower-middle-class Latin area? gentrification. I remember there being a bunch of 99 cent stores as well as some small restaurants in the very same spot these new stores are now. Gentrification is the process by which the arrival of wealthier people and businesses arrive into poor communities, this displaces the people as well as rasing rent, and housing costs. Target and Chipotle aren’t really popular with Latino people, but it does appeal to wealthier people of a different class. The area I live in now which is corona hasn’t been gentrified yet as the housing here is already expensive, it is mostly 2-floor houses and there aren’t many apartment complexes.
One argument Dickinson brings up is the displacement of small businesses. Once these small businesses get replaced, the original workers are out of jobs that are most likely family-owned. The only person who would benefit from this would be the original owner while the rest of the workers are left to find another job. Many people in these small businesses lack the knowledge or education to look elsewhere for jobs, especially in my old neighborhood as everyone primarily spoke Spanish. Gentrification is a horrible process that we will see at some point in our lives.
I agree with you. Chain stores like Chipotle and Target replacing small businesses is a huge indicator of gentrification. This is happening in the neighborhood my friend lives in. A Starbucks and chick-fil-a were recently built, but she’s more worried than excited about it.
I find this post particularly interesting. I totally agree, I have family who lives in the corona area and would visit them often throughout the years. Each time I would see a huge chain store open up and I would talk to my family who lived in that area and they would speak on how the rent would skyrocket when new chain stores opened up.
I can compare this to the Bronx In many ways on how all the boroughs are changing maybe for the better but now with more known companies then the OG spots from before. Now rent increasing slowly pushing the latinos away maybe so we can better ourselves and adapt to new situations.