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Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Francisco

theguardian.com

101–110 of 318 posts

Re: Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Francisco

#101
post #29

This is a very sad occurence but I'd wish an article to read more as facts than as a sob story

Aaron Swartz commits suicide after being prosecuted for a crime that he did commit, and he's a martyr. A working class latino guy in San Francisco gets shot by the police because some white dudes didn't like the look of him, and it's basically his fault. Hacker news values.

One might as well say: "20K+ fatalities on the Boko Haram insurgency, and counting, but you're up in arms about one maybe-murder in the most privileged city in the world."

Not every community needs to be about every thing.

Re: Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Francisco

#102
post #85
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those doing low-paid work in London are obviously important to the city, but I'd argue that those doing high-paid work make more sense to live in the city because theirs is the work that benefits most from the agglomeration that big cities provide. If low-paid workers have to travel further, then their wages will be forced upwards as a result. Employers are forced to pay prevailing market rates to get the staff they…

The situation in London is complicated by a large influx of workers from elsewhere in the EU, who are willing to live in sub-standard conditions (many to a room, sharing beds, sheds in back gardens, etc.) and work for minimum wage, or even less. Some larger employers pay a "living wage" on principle, but nobody feels the need to raise wages for unskilled workers for lack of supply.

This is a very salient point about London. It's not widely known about just how squalid and cramped the living conditions are — though just ask any recently arrived migrant. It is not as black and white as poor people living in zones 3-9 and rich people living in 1-3.

Re: Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Francisco

#103
> Evan Snow, a thirtysomething “user experience design professional”..., who had moved to the neighbourhood about six months earlier (and who has since departed for a more suburban environment)

> Snow never seemed to recognise that his out-of-control dog was the aggressor: “So Luna was, I think, looking to move around the benches or behind me to run up happily to get a chip from Mr Nieto. Mr Nieto became further – what’s the right word? – distressed, moving very quickly and rapidly left to right, trying to keep his chips away from Luna. He ran down to these benches and jumped up on the benches, my dog following. She was at that point vocalising, barking, or kind of howling.”

>– in his deposition for the case, under oath, his exact words were that he was distracted by a female “jogger’s butt”. “I can imagine that somebody would – could assume the dog was being aggressive at that point,” Snow said. The dog did not come when he called, but kept barking. Nieto, Snow says, then pulled back his jacket and took his Taser out, briefly pointing at the distant dog-owner before he pointed it at the dog baying at his feet. The two men yelled at each other, and Snow apparently used a racial slur, but would not later give the precise word. As he left the park, he texted a friend about the incident. His text, according to his testimony, said, “in another state like Florida, I would have been justified in shooting Mr Nieto that night”

Is this guy real? This is the sort of person I'd expect to see on Silicon Valley not in the real world, he fits the techbro stereotype exactly. After each sentence I read, I thought this guy couldn't get even more stereotypical, but he managed to lower the bar further.

Re: Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Francisco

#104
post #86

From a European perspective this is more 'Death by police state' than anything else.

What happens in Europe when someone is seen in a public park waving around something that looks like this? http://i2.wp.com/missionlocal.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03...

There are far fewer guns floating around in most of Western Europe, so it's less likely in the first place.

Re: Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Francisco

#105
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think many people would argue with the evolutionary nature of cities. I think what people would say, however, is that when cities change those with the least economic muscle tend to be the most adversely effected (e.g they lose their homes/tenancies when they can't afford to pay inflated rents). Again, that in itself might not be a problem if there were other places to move that poor communities could afford…

Housing would be cheaper if they built more of it. Rents in Seattle actually declined this year.

No idea why you are being downvoted. Supply and demand, this is Economics 101. I have made the same arguments about SF and people downvote me too. The #1 way to decrease rent is to build more supply. If there was double the apartments in SF, the rent would not be as high.

Re: Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Francisco

#106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People don't fall dead after single bullet like in movies. In real scenarios 40 bullets are quite usual.

Shots fired at persons by the german police in 2014 (total): 46 [1]. [1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffengebrauch_der_Polizei_in_...

And overall gun crime in Germany is lower by, what, two orders of magnitude?

Germany's shot rate isn't lower simply because individual German police are stingier with their bullets.

Re: Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Francisco

#107
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think many people would argue with the evolutionary nature of cities. I think what people would say, however, is that when cities change those with the least economic muscle tend to be the most adversely effected (e.g they lose their homes/tenancies when they can't afford to pay inflated rents). Again, that in itself might not be a problem if there were other places to move that poor communities could afford…

Housing would be cheaper if they built more of it. Rents in Seattle actually declined this year.

I was surprised to see how much of greater London is covered by town houses, detached homes and 2-3 story buildings when I visited.

The population of greater London is about the same as that of NYC (~8.5m people), but the population density is half (5,432/km^2 for London vs 10,756.0/km^2 for NYC).

Re: Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Francisco

#108
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When middle class families move out it's called *-flight. When poor families move out, it's called gentrification. Both are due to economics, some precipitated, not so much by individual bigotry but rather by self interest (the former wanting to preserve value individually in anticipation of devaluation of property, the latter get pushed out due to economics whereby its not viable to remain in a valuating neighborhoo…

I think the difference is choice. White flight is white folks choosing to move out of an area. Gentrification is white folks choosing to move in to an area. No-one else gets a choice. Only the white folks.

> No-one else gets a choice.

Everybody gets the same choices, or can you point me towards a mechanism that prevents e.g. Chinese or Indians form moving?

The difference is narrative: It's currently acceptable to blame whitey. Criticising non-whites is not socially acceptable in left-wing circles. Your comment is an instance of this behaviour.

Re: Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Francisco

#109
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think many people would argue with the evolutionary nature of cities. I think what people would say, however, is that when cities change those with the least economic muscle tend to be the most adversely effected (e.g they lose their homes/tenancies when they can't afford to pay inflated rents). Again, that in itself might not be a problem if there were other places to move that poor communities could afford…

Housing would be cheaper if they built more of it. Rents in Seattle actually declined this year.

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Re: Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Francisco

#110
post #89
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those doing low-paid work in London are obviously important to the city, but I'd argue that those doing high-paid work make more sense to live in the city because theirs is the work that benefits most from the agglomeration that big cities provide. If low-paid workers have to travel further, then their wages will be forced upwards as a result. Employers are forced to pay prevailing market rates to get the staff they…

In a theoretically perfect economic market you're right, but there is little if any evidence to suggest there is a causal link between economic displacement and wage growth. In fact wage growth at the low end has stagnated in London[0] despite the advancing economic displacement of it's low paid workers[1]. [0]: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Economy%20Comm... [1]: http://www.londonspovertyprofile.org.…

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