The area of New York City that I’ve chosen to investigate is Washington Heights. All my life, I either grew up in upper Manhattan or found myself visiting friends and family in the area. Currently, my mom owns her own insurance company in Washington Heights, and the neighborhood is quickly changing. Last month, an entire section of local businesses were shut down within a span of two weeks and signs with new business ideas and the phrase “gentrification in process” were left where the old businesses once stood. I would like to investigate why exactly this is happening, and further understand why Washington Heights is the next target area to undergo gentrification.

Back when I was younger, Washington Heights was full of bodegas, small restaurants, and playgrounds. Now, there are a slew of new cafes, organic juice bars and even barbershops that are extremely different from the Domincan-owned salons I would frequent with my dad when I was younger.

I want to start by interviewing the owner of a local business- Sweet Life Pastry. This bakery just opened up and is not only a cafe, but also a Mexican lunch restaurant. I would like to interview the owner and see how her new business is doing now that more and more local businesses are being shut down in the area.

I would like to also highlight another kind of business that has been in business for over 20 years- Valdez Enterprises. This is a multiservice business agency, and I believe I can get great insight on what Washington Heights used to be from the owner, Mr. Jose Valdez.

I would like to get in touch with one of the local community representatives to see what they foresee for Washington Heights in the future, due to the fact that it has already changed so much in the last couple of years. This project will allow me to further investigate Washington Heights and learn many new things about it.