CSU#7: Urban Geography
Article
Title: Disney World on the Hudson
By: Jeremiah
Moss
Published:
August 21, 2012 New York Times
Summary
Jeremiah
Moss’ op-ed article in the New York Times, Disney
World on the Hudson, expresses his opinion about the gentrification of a
New York City neighbourhood. In Moss’ opinion, the High Line park built on top
of an old elevated railway has ultimately not been in the best interest of the
neighbourhood or the people who lived there. Initially, Moss welcomed the idea
of a park set above the city. He saw it as a quiet place for reflection and
calm above the bustling city. However, his excitement about the park quickly
vanished and he has seen it transform into a huge tourist attraction and become
the impetus for some of the quickest gentrification that has ever taken place
in New York City.
The
problem with the park, as Moss sees it is that it is part of the overall plan
to make New York City into a type of Disney World. Over 3.7 million people
visited the park in 2011 and only half were New Yorkers. The overcrowding is
beginning to change opinion about the park. The overcrowding is not the only
problem. The plan for the park is that it will eventually be twenty blocks in
length. And, as the park grows, it destroys the surrounding neighbourhood.
Mayor
Bloomberg and his administration used the park as a means to create a new,
upscale, corporate stretch on the west side. In 2005 the city rezoned the area
for luxury development. Since that time the neighbourhood has been transformed.
Old buildings have been destroyed modern glass towers have replaced them. Real
estate prices around the park increased in the period from 2003 to 2011 by 103
per cent. This is good news for the wealthy property owners and rich land
developers, but bad for those who have lived and worked in the area for many
years. Previously the neighbourhood was a mix of working-class residents and
businesses considered to be light industrial. The High Line has succeeded in
changing all this. Auto shops are closing or seeing their profits decline. With
rents skyrocketing, some long-time businesses have no choice but to close or
relocate. Big known chains are making their way into the area. Eventually there
will be no place for regular New Yorkers.
Analysis
Moss makes a very strong argument about the
negative side of the gentrification of New York’s West Manhattan neighbourhood
adjacent to the High Line park. With the park and with the city’s current
administration’s desire to make New York a sort of Disney World, the social
character of the neighbourhood has been altered. Gentrification of the area began with the
High Line, but allowing luxury development paved the way for inflated real
estate prices and commercial rents changing the social and economic make-up of
the area. Businesses in the area that did not cater to the needs of tourists or
upper-income New Yorkers can no longer survive. By establishing a new strip
targeted to bring in chain stores and trendy restaurants long-term industrial
businesses could no longer flourish.
Moss doesn’t address the
economic benefits that tourism, residential and corporate taxes bring to the
economy of the city and there is really no need for him to present this side of
the argument. The residents and business owners that are being displaced by the
gentrification process will not be direct recipients of any of that wealth. The
once small but flourishing businesses provided jobs for skilled workers such as
mechanics. As these businesses close, the jobs that are being created in their
place are lower paying service and retail positions. As older buildings are
torn down or renovated to make way for luxury condos, long-time residents will
be forced t move to more affordable parts of the city. In short, the
development of the High Line and the surrounding neighbourhood did not
incorporate integration of old and new residents and business into the overall
plan. Without any type of insightful urban plan designed for the maintenance of
established businesses and residents the gentrification will continue to be a
negative for what Moss refers to as regular New Yorkers.
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