How Gentrification Affects a City's Art and Soul
A city isn't really a city without a little grit. That edge, that grittiness I am referring to comes from a city's built form - it's industrial land; the train tracks; the port cranes; its older, unkempt graffitied buildings. A city's grit also comes from it's people's struggles - the new immigrant taking a night shift cleaning office buildings to make it in a new world, or the artist eking out a living making art in an abandoned warehouse.
Gentrification is a hot issue in Vancouver's gritty Downtown Eastside (Photo c/o DisposableLandscapes)
Maybe it all sounds a little clichéd, but without these gritty elements, a city runs the risk of becoming an over-planned, over-regulated yet lovely, resort town. Nice to visit, but not much substance. Grittiness is often what makes cities fascinating places to live. It creates the determination that inspires people to help other city dwellers, improve themselves and their surroundings, and to make art. Author Candice Bushnell once wrote about New York's gritty roots:
"The city was different back then—poor and crumbling—kept alive only by the gritty determination and steely cynicism of its occupants. But underneath the dirt was the apple-cheeked optimism of possibility."
As cities around the world like New York and my hometown of Vancouver are becoming more desirable places to live, their grittiness is under threat. Market forces are bringing in new money in the form of fancy refurbished lofts, new condominiums, expensive farmer's markets, and high end restaurants and shops. Its pretty great for those who have the money to enjoy and appreciate these revitalized areas, but it is pushing out many of the low-income people who moved downtown when it was affordable and less desirable.
Gentrification Poster in Brooklyn, NYC
Arguably, a bit of grittiness in city life creates the authenticity and diversity that makes cities attractive places to live and work - yet overzealous developers and urban planners are often eager to smooth out a city's rough edges and replace them with polished concrete and glass condos. Many of the people being displaced in the world's great cities are artists. As they contribute to making the most downtrodden areas trendy, the cultural venues they live, work and perform in are now sitting on valuable land which they typically don't own.
I've been to a couple of lectures and speaking events over the last month on the subject of gentrification and the arts. The common theme at these events is how artists are "victims" of real estate speculation, land values, politics, etc. If this is true, then the real question for our cities and their artists is:
How can artists shift from being victims of gentrification to becoming agents of change?
The now destroyed Pantages Theatre in Vancouver (Photo c/o DisposableLandscapes)
In Vancouver, Canada, artists have seen many of their spaces destroyed and replaced with condos (Richards on Richards, the Sugar Refinery, the Pantages Theatre, The Ridge Theatre, etc.). The biggest uproar that finally lead the City to wake up and take action was when it was discovered that a local developer bought the Waldorf Hotel, a historic building and popular hangout for the city's arts scene.
Citizens, politicians, journalists, and local and international artists used social media to express their outrage. And it worked. Gregor Robertson, the Mayor of Vancouver, issued a statement about the historic and cultural importance of the Waldorf and placed a 120-day moratorium on any demolition permit the new owners might apply for. The freeze would give the city time to conduct a "statement of significance" to assess and document the building's heritage importance. As it stands, although still in tact, the Waldorf is no longer the swinging hub of arts and culture it once was.
Supporters of the Waldorf held a rally outside Vancouver City Hall (Photo: Yoland Cole)
At one event I went to following the news of the Waldorf Hotel, many artists expressed frustration that they and their peers were again losing a performance/work space. Some of the ideas suggested to help artists become more empowered were:
- Stop relying on government funding and become more business-like in promoting artistic works.
- Form artists' co-operatives in order to buy land/buildings.
- Engage the city in developing a "cultural land trust" to protect artist's spaces.
- Stop working in isolation and find ways to collaborate at a regional and national level to promote the arts.
- Encourage people to engage in the arts as participants, not consumers.
- Find more unconventional spaces to promote arts (as opposed to typical established theatres, galleries, etc.)
A recent example of empowered artists protecting their community happened in Montreal's Mile End neighbourhood. Since the 1980s, Mile End has been known for as a home to artists, musicians (such as Arcade Fire and Grimes), writers, and filmmakers. In the 1990s, a computer graphics software house Discreet Logic made a mark on the area by renovating an old clothing factory which later become home to computer game developer Ubisoft. The city started to revitalize the neighbourhood with nice bike paths, walkways, etc. and then the condo developers moved in, rents rose and artists were under threat. They responded by forming the Pied Carré which successfully lobbied the government to make a ground-breaking decision: issuing a development moratorium on 200,000 sq. ft of art space in the area for thirty years.
When artists unite like this, they can become a powerful force against gentrification. In fact as I was writing this article, the City of Vancouver announced that it will become the first city in Canada to allow arts performances as a temporary use in warehouse and retail buildings.
These examples demonstrate how city planning can play a role in supporting the arts. In fact, there are many promising trends in city planning right now - walkable communities, urban agriculture, increased public transit, bike lanes, mixed use developments - but in this rush to polish our cities for a new generation of urban dwellers, we run the risk of losing the grit and the artistic expressions that make up a city's soul.
We need beauty in our cities in the form of architecture, nature and public art, but often appreciating this beauty comes from seeing its contrast in derelict buildings, dive-bars and run-down theatres. Sometimes I wish cities would stop trying to be so pretty all the time.
Graffiti in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (Photo c/o DisposableLandscapes)
