transformation

It's Sunday.

This morning at brunch with friends, we happened on a NYT article about gentrification in New York City.

I had mixed feelings about the article, and about my role in the changing landscape of this city.
On the same page of the print edition, there was an article about a group of protestors demonstrating in front of a bar co-owned by Bruce Willis on the Bowery. They were standing in front of a large development that houses Whole Foods. I felt the number of protesters (about 100) were too little too late.

Why weren't they at community board meetings 5 years ago stopping major developments?

It's so easy to criticize until one is in another's shoes.

One friend today said that many people would group me in with these larger developers who have razed historic buildings and have "destroyed" the heart and soul of New York City. He said they wouldn't care if the property has been in my family, and that we have chosen to build it healthy, etc. I found that viewpoint limited, fixed.

I countered by admitting that, if seen from one point of view, then yes I was part of the "problem"...but on the other hand I asked the question: what better place to build something for myself than in the city I was born and raised? What better way to contribute to my city than to invest time, money, and energy into a project that stands for alternative ways of thinking?

It's an interesting position to have grown up with sentiments of being a "have -not" and then transform a space (in my example) into a major asset. Why would that be looked down upon? Why is there conflict surrounding that choice?