Let's talk about gentrification.

Feel like you have yet to hear a good way of responding to and dealing with gentrification? You’re not alone. This is why Neighbors Project has willingly stepped into the heat of the debate raging across the country with a commonsense approach to helping the people seen as gentrifiers become a positive force in our neighborhoods and breakdown barriers among new and older residents.

Q: So what’s your big idea?
A: We believe strongly in the need to help new city residents make the individual connections with their neighbors that will strengthen the communities in which they choose to live. Our Neighbors Checklist is an accessible list of ideas of constructive things we can all do to get to know our neighbors.

More generally, we do not support policies that divide communities as ‘us versus them,’ thereby weakening the existing and evolving community in the neighborhood and making it more difficult for neighbors, new and old, to know each other. We seek opportunities to break down those barriers and work together toward common positive, pro-active visions of diverse, welcoming city communities for everyone.

Q: Are you trying to push all the poor people out of your cute, expensive neighborhoods?
A: Neighbors Project exists to make diverse cities with a healthy grassroots culture, rooted in public streets and institutions, the preferred place to live for Americans of every kind. We will have failed if our city neighborhoods continue to divide up into the rich or the poor, while the middle class moves to the suburbs.

Q: Isn’t it elitist to focus on just younger people?
A: Though we are open to everyone, we specifically target city neighborhood residents in their 20s, 30s and early 40s. One of the main reasons we have chosen to focus on this group is that we recognize that this population is often seen as a negative force in their neighborhoods. At Neighbors Project, we believe that there is much good that this group can do in their neighborhoods, if they are educated and guided in a constructive direction.

It is in the interest of everyone – old, young, urban and suburban – if this generation chooses to make homes in cities rather than eat up precious resources and perpetuate the inequality exacerbated by suburban sprawl. But no one has yet to answer the question: How can this population become a positive force in their neighborhoods? This is what Neighbors Project is helping answer.

Q: Are you trying to impose your values and ideas on communities?
A: Neighbors Project’s work is based on a respect for the existing community structure and a concerted effort to work within existing community organizations. We recognize that the neighborhoods we live and work in already have a wealth of resources. Since our beginning in Fall 2006, we have already developed a track record of working closely with existing community groups to help move forward common interests. We will continue to align the grassroots projects we support, and the people behind these projects, as much as possible with existing community-based objectives and visions. We hope to ensure that existing community groups see us as an ally and a resource to tap into the energy and resources of their younger residents to mobilize them to support positive community change.

Q: So how will your work help 'solve' gentrification?
A: Neighbors Project recognizes that city neighborhoods are in constant flux and will always to some extent be dealing with internal conflicts of territoriality, power dynamics and shifting identities. Our work should, however, contribute to stabilizing a neighborhood, generating and supporting grassroots projects that benefit everyone in the community.

Bonus: Check out our 7 Rules for Talking about Gentrification. These are designed for people who want to have a constructive conversation with their neighbors.

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Photo courtesy of crossley on flickr.com. Note that use of this photo does not imply that crossley endorses the content of this page or Web site.

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