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J for Justice?
By adamg on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 10:35am
The anti-Whole Fooders struck again this morning, this time risking their necks to drape a couple of banners (one in English, one in Spanish) from a billboard advertising Polish ham atop the Hyde Square CVS.
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Comments
this is about as legit and effective...
as the group walking around hyde/jackson square areas filming peoples reactions to whole foods coming to JP. Eighty percent of these videos consist of "have you ever shopped at WF?" answered by "no." Wow, that really proves a lot.
Furthermore, they tried to interview my roommate, but once he told them he was pro-WF and pro-Hyde Square development, they had a "dead battery."
If this shoddy, swiss-cheese assault on WF in JP succeeds, which I doubt it will, people can celebrate another black hole in Hyde Square.
Those silly kids! 'Guerilla
Those silly kids! 'Guerilla banner hanging' must be an elective at Hampshire College these days--
Dunno
All the words are spelled correctly as far as I can tell.
Affordable for....?
Oh, come on now, City Feed was selling turkeys for $4.99 lb and $5.99 (if you want, ahem, an organic bird) per lb last November. Talk to me about affordable!
JP has been in the process of gentrification for years now. I lived there in the mid 1980s and it has definitely gone upscale and will continue to do so.
Aside from the fact, which these morons can't seem to except, is that Whole Foods is coming in no matter how many silly banners they hang all over the place (talk about useless clutter.)
And, honestly, how many of these yahoos, actually even shopped at Hi Lo? Apparently not enough since they sold out to WH!
Focussed message
One would normally expect a bedsheet rant to carry at least three slogans addressed at two or more "social ills".
As noted on Patch...
they couldn't even spell verdaderamente correctly. For group debating over the loss of "authentic Latino" products, that's about as inauthentic as you can get.
If you're going to speak for the Spanish-speaking community, it usually helps to, you know, speak Spanish.
The Spanish banner
Brains prohibited
Vedada : mente
In JP the use of brains is prohibited to all.
That's not really fair
(As much as this kerfuffle needs to stfu...)
That may well have been written by a native speaker. It's not at all uncommon to not be able to spell/punctuate/use grammar in one's native language.
See also:
9 out of 10 anon comments on UH. (An excellent example being "Affordable for....?" above, as a matter of fact.)
"It's not at all uncommon to
"It's not at all uncommon to not be able to spell/punctuate/use grammar in one's native language."
Exhibit A: Teabaggers. Your point, madam?
Eons ago when I was in
Eons ago when I was in college, we marched/raised money for amnesty international, save the whales, greenpeace, end to hunger... I guess these days it's about protesting organic zucchini and expensive cilantro. Back then I drove into Cambridge from NH to shop at Bread & Circus since it was the closest place I could buy tofu. Now kids are protesting WF? Weird.
I agree
Keep JP Affordable!
- No new businesses! They only improve quality of life and increase home values - we cant have that!
- No recreational areas! They also increase rents and squander land that could be used for truly affordable housing!
- No public transit service! The yuppies will only use it to get to Whole Foods and, of course, it will only raise rental prices!
- No quality schools! How could we live with ourselves knowing that we gave our children a good education only to have them not afford a home in JP?!
Vote NO on these terrible things!
morons?
hey, anon, before you call people morons maybe you should learn the difference between "except" and "accept."
Thank you grammar police, MQ!
Actually, I do know the difference but, geez, I just made mistake this morning in my grammar. Thanks for catching it, though. It must be tough going through your life being so gosh darn perfect.
So this morning I also was a moron. I have no problem with that. All of us are morons from time to time.
*a mistake
FIFU
Technically ...
It works either way. The morons can't seem to "except" Whole Foods - as in, make an exception for Whole Foods.
These are the Einsteins that
These are the Einsteins that chant "No to corporations!" for years, then wonder why there aren't any jobs or stores to buy stuff from in their neighborhood.
The least they could have done
was include the website link:
www.jpforall.org
I am still trying to wrap my
I am still trying to wrap my mind around this debate...
The Anti-WF-ers are protesting this store because of its perceived higher prices, even though it has been acknowledged by the Globe that there prices are fairly comparable to other local chains. They just happen also sell a wide range gourmet foods, and WF wouldn't decide to open a store in this area unless they felt that there was a large enough market for such items.
Furthermore, Whole Foods often offers a wider selection of "ethnic" foods than Stop n' Shop, for example. And tend to adapt their offerings to the local environment.
Around the country, the Anti-Whole Foods debate has largely been focused on the mega-chain taking business away from local specialty shops, which often cannot beat the prices of WF. Many "yuppie" protesters say they will gladly pay more to keep their favorite local market in business.
If residents of JP want to protest Whole Foods because it might take business from their favorite Mom n' Pop establishments, a la Walmart, that is justifiable.
But protesting based on the premise that Whole Foods would be out of the price range for local residents, is ludicrous.
Basically, I think
this is a smallish group of people who 1) are friends of City Feed and/or 2) do not want "chain" stores in JP and/or 3) are hipster types that will protest anything if it is the "in" thing to do.
I think JP has many of the latter.
it has been acknowledged by
"Acknowledged" by the Globe in a carefully constructed 'survey' in which they eliminated the products that would show the higher prices of WF. Next, the Globe will be 'acknowledging' that a Rolls Royce costs less than a Chevy Impala.
Absolutely correct. Produce
Absolutely correct. Produce and meat are generally much more expensive at Whole Foods than other grocery stores. The article in the Globe was a disgrace and had to be corrected by a follow up article.
But it doesn't matter.
Some of their stuff is comparably priced. Some of it (produce and meat, notably) is crazy-expensive. But it doesn't matter. Because if you want cheap food, you can go shop somewhere else. Stop & Shop is just up the road, or there are a dozen alternatives within 3 miles.
It kind of sucks that the neighborhood is losing Hi-Lo, but let me repeat: WF is not pushing out Hi-Lo. Hi-Lo staying in the neighborhood is not the alternative to WF moving in. There is nothing that will make them stay in Hyde Square. The choices are Whole Foods, or a vacant lot. I don't understand how this is even a discussion.
The kids these days!
The kids these days! Seriously, they think this is a real revolutionary cause--JP is the next Egypt! Haaah hah! If it weren't so pathetic it would be hilarious. Also seriously, I hate it for them that they have bought into a worldview that has completely internalized the equivalence of consumption practices and identity. Because they have. And it is sickening that they can't even tell that they are making fools of themselves. This whole "movement" is as fake as a Che Guevara t-shirt from Urban Outfitters.
Whit
Nobody is asking for Hi-Lo to
Nobody is asking for Hi-Lo to return to Hyde Square. That isn't what the fight against Whole Foods is about.
Speaking from my personal views here:
People are fighting Whole Foods's plans to come to Jamaica Plain because they are resisting gentrification. Whole Foods is about as "gentrifying" as corporations get and stopping it will go a long way at protecting diversity and affordability in JP for the long run.
Stopping Whole Foods is about protecting cultural diversity and keeping JP affordable for all of its current residents. Those who opposed Whole Foods are not anti-business and most are explicitly pro-local business and don't see Whole Foods as a benefit to locally owned business. Alternatives can be presented for the old Hi-Lo building, but none were ever really given the option, as Whole Foods replacing Hi-Lo there was a surprise announcement to most people. Lots of people say that they see "tons of abandoned or vacant buildings"in Hyde Square. I don't see this. I see plenty of thriving and diverse businesses owned by local people who care about this community (I say diverse both in culture and the class of people they cater too). Reasons for the few vacant buildings are not that there are a lack of people who want to own businesses in JP and could run them very successfully, its that the cost of entry is so high that most ordinary people can't afford to even get a foot in. Whole Foods coming to the community will only make it even harder for local businesses to start here, since its presence will drive up retail space rents.
I definitely don't think we need a Whole Foods here given all of the food shopping options already available. I'd much rather see Hi-Lo sit vacant for a little while (and I'm sure a good fit could be found in a reasonable amount of time) if it will mean stopping the tide of gentrification in JP. I do not want families and working individuals to be priced out of JP. I do not want JP to lose one of its biggest sources of pride, its cultural diversity
I've got Bingo
Gentrification, cultural diversity, resisting, priced out, community (free square)
Now lets see some statistics, data, and hard information based on the experience of other neighborhoods that support your lovely theories about how "Whole Foods" is the whole problem? That "Whole Foods" moving in is a CAUSE of gentrification and not a SYMPTOM?
Enough with the nonsensical protesting
Then maybe the protesters and signs should head to Newton and start harrassing the owners of the building.
The lease is signed and Whole Foods has indicated that they are moving ahead as planned. For WF to back out now would mean facing litigation for breaking their legally-binding lease agreement with the owners of Hi-Lo. There really is very little you or any other protester can do to intervene and it's quite nuisance-y of you to try.
Surprise Announcement? sorry,
Surprise Announcement? sorry, but you aren't owed any notice. Business transactions and plans aren't up for your decision. It irks me when people try to paint this as some shadowy undercover deal. It is just the way it works.
So we want even more of these black holes?
Thriving? Yeah, the spaces where Bella Luna and June Bug were are thriving big time.
If the anti-WFers are truly about the neighborhood, then what are you doing that is actually useful? You can't change this with misspelled bedsheets.
For example, Chris is fighting it...
because he's a senior at BU studying to become a community organizer and needs one big project before he clears out of here.
Let's take that filter off of Chris' eyes for a second and see what's really going on in Hyde Square. The Bella Luna, Milky Way, Junebug and old Fat Ram spaces -- as well as the Hi-Lo space -- remain empty. The "diverse" thriving businesses include an Irish pub, a Scottish Pub, a hairdresser a bike shop, a tattoo parlor, a pizza shop run by the guy from same old place, an indie video store, a soon-to-open Ethiopian place, a liquor store, El Oriental and Miami Restaurant. Spot the diversity.
If you guessed the hairdresser, El Oriental and Miami Restaurant -- two businesses that have no overlap with whole foods -- you win. The "cost of entry" Chris is talking about didn't stop The Haven, Slice O' Pie and the Ethiopian place from coming in, a bike shop from existing and expanding, a video store from thriving or a tattoo shop from expanding. The vacancies aren't filled because no business in its right mind is going to dive into a space as big as the Milky Way's until it sees how everything will shake out. Whole Foods gave people that answer.
"I'd much rather see Hi-Lo sit vacant for a little while." That makes one of you. This is really easy for you to say since you're a student with no roots in the community, but neighborhoods really don't like having huge vacancies in them for long. Vacancies create problems and underutilize space residents could be using to meet their needs. Given the dearth of organic shopping options in that neighborhood, Whole Foods is a perfect fit.
P.S. JP ISN'T losing its diversity. In the area directly surrounding Hyde Square, JP is gaining whites, Asians and African Americans in areas with a Hispanic majority. JP's Asian population is up on the whole. That' increasing diversity
You're mixed up
If JP is a nice place to live, then people will want to move there. If more people want to move there, and new housing isn't built, the rent prices will go up.
If you want to avoid people getting priced out of their (rented) homes, you have two options: (A) increase the supply of housing through additional construction, or (B) decrease the desirability of living in JP.
Option (A) makes the most sense but will probably inspire even more protests from moronic NIMBYs.
For Option (B), maybe you can turn to some of the warring gangs in nearby neighborhoods and have them come shoot up the place. That will turn off prospective residents and then you can have your low property values in a place that nobody wants to live.
Dude, the superlatives!
I think you lose credibility when you say it's "about as gentrifying as corporations get." There aren't actually people in JP or anywhere else who can't afford 99-cent cans of beans at Whole Foods but who can afford 99-cent cans of beans at Hi-Lo or two-dollar cans of beans at the convenience store. Just because the place does sell $50 truffle oil doesn't mean anyone is forced to buy it, or is unable to afford the cans of beans because the truffle oil is in the same store. In order to make the neighborhood truly unaffordable, it would need to be a place that only sold expensive gourmet items and was the only option for groceries in the neighborhood.
And really, if you insist on going down this path where you blame businesses for opening up in a free-market economy rather than blaming people for the ways they choose to spend their money, can't you find a more worthwhile target than grocery stores? That same business district has plenty of stores that sell things people don't remotely need, like car stereos and bridal attire.
I'm thinking "gentrification" in your mind means things that don't fit your image of the kind of social control you want to see.
Really, if you actually want to improve quality of life and availability of affordable goods, how about you focus your energies on fighting convenience stores where groceries cost twice as much as at a grocery store, or places that take a huge cut to cash checks, or places where you can buy furniture and electronics at a 100% APR?
+100 (not the APR, the actual number one hundred)
(emphasis mine)
Indeed.
It's because of convenience that the stores, check cashing places, and rent-to-own places can gouge without a twinge of guilt, because they know they have a captive audience, i.e. the lower classes who don't have access to a supermarket, don't have access to a local bank, and don't have access to credit (or their credit is subprime).
If even 1% of the focus on an upper class, upscale supermarket were concentrated on predatory lending practices on the lower classes of JP, there would be vast improvement to get the people away from convenience stores into mini-supermarkets that sell produce and healthier foods at a much cheaper price, banks offering low-to-no fee checking accounts, and stores that offer good, solid items that can either be laid away without onerous usury APRs or sold at far less than cost.
It won't happen so long as the myopia of the white, upper class busybodies is focused on the protest of the hour.
Amen!
Well said.
For both sides, it's about images, not facts
On the one side, we have white, middle-class people who haven't ever given Whole Foods a chance saying it's ruining the neighborhood because it's overly posh, only sells gourmet items people don't need, etc. However, in reality, a lot of the low-income families in the program where I work trek to Whole Foods in Brighton or Fenway or Dedham because they have the best prices and selection on things they need, like gluten-free stuff for their kid with medical issues, or spices to make a dish that reminds them of back home.
A lot of my mostly lower-middle-class friends shop there, and I don't know anyone who buys expensive gourmet items there. Looking at people's carts, I don't think many people buy more than the occasional such item. Besides, wouldn't really posh people be above going to a chain supermarket and need to get their truffle oil or whatever at some boutique foodie place? And really, again, people are focusing on the images, not the facts; a lot of people spend $200 on sneakers and $100 a month on cable, which they could instead put toward a truffle oil purchase if their hobby was cooking instead. Is anyone freaking out about sneaker stores or Comcast being gentrifiers?
But then on the other side, I have clients at work (and a few acquaintances) who I've tried to convince to get a bank account rather than using check-cashing places. I told one person about how happy I was with Wainwright, and how I had an account that didn't charge me any fees as long as I didn't overdraw it. He didn't believe me, saying that "that place looks so fancy and yuppie, I'm sure it costs five dollars just to walk into the lobby of the place."
Even when I explained that the account doesn't require direct deposit and doesn't require a minimum balance, he kept saying that it only didn't have fees because I had so much money in my account, alluded to you people with fancy degrees also having stocks and things that they take into consideration, etc. There was just no convincing this gentleman that this was a standalone account that doesn't have a cash flow very much higher than his, so he decided to stick with the check-cashing place.
Have you ever been to Cambridge? Or Medford Hillside?
We've got three Whole Foods stores in Cambridge, and another on Route 16 at the Medford/Somerville border. Take a walk around these neighborhoods. Would you really describe any of them as 'gentrified' ?
Medford Whole Foods
That location was a Purity Supreme managed by my husband's cousin. Then it became a "Wild Harvest" around 1995 or so, then a Wild Oats, and then, finally, Whole Foods.
It is next door to a housing development and a neighborhood of two and three-family homes, and a longstanding African American neighborhood. Nothing in those areas has changed that has not changed in other areas of Medford, and it has "gentrified" far less than areas of Somerville that don't have a Whole Foods nearby.
I find it pretty amusing that there is outcry about "hispanic" foods in JP. WF has been a pretty consistent supplier of Mexican food items not even found at Market Basket (which caters to a more Puerto Rican and Dominican clientele). I have come home from work and been presented with a WF receipt by my teenager because he biked over and bought everything we needed to make burritos/quesadillas/enchiladas, plus some lactose free milk - all at reasonable prices.
European food
There's lots of holes in the No Whole Foods debate, principally being the two points that JP is already gentrified and WF really has nothing to do with it and that this is a private transaction that is not looking for variances or changes in codes - so there's no real basis to say stop this store.
The fact that your kid bought "burrito fixins" at a WF so what are they complaining about is almost as lame as the arguments against putting in a WF at the former Hi-Lo. Mexican cuisine as interpreted by US food outlets is not necessarily the dietary preferences of the Latinos that live in JP. We're talking about mainly Dominicans and some Cubans. So Italians should be pleased with being able to buy Wienerschnitzel and Pierogi fixins at the local supermarket? I know you know that Latin America is pretty diverse -- so the "let them eat burritos" comment just sounds kind of dumb.
Presumably the small bodegas will pick up some of the slack on Caribbean cooking needs that Hi-Lo used to provide. And I have not found Market Basket to be catering to a more Dominican and Puerto Rican clientele (although it has what they need). The store in Chelsea has one aisle devoted to Goya/general Latino and another that is "ethnic" (including a Serbian section). It's amazing what you'll find in there. But locally if you want, for example, real Colombian or hard to get Peruvian grocery goods, there are small local stores in Eastie that cater to that (El Paisa Butchershop on Bennington in Orient Heights and Frio Rico in Day Square, respectively).
Reading comprehension?
Strawman: your "argument" here "against" "my" supposed "argument" is lame because you didn't bother to notice what I said just above it. Who knew the word "burrito" was a stop codon, ending all thought for the self-righteous? The only reason I didn't use words like "sopa","posole", "sopapilla", "chorizo", "carne asada" and "tamale" was that there are so few sources of Mexican cuisine in Boston that many people wouldn't recognize them.
I am well aware that there are many Hispanic cuisines - I even said so, if your ability to think wasn't clouded by "burrito". I noted that WF has more Mexican stuff (I spent half my childhood in communities of 5-10,000 people where major grocery stores had multiple aisles of Mexican foods, so I know what at least northern and central Mexican food looks like, thank you very f'n much). Market Basket caters to different Hispanic groups yet doesn't carry even decent "TexMex" stuff - and they never have.
There was a time when you couldn't even get the right kind of corn to MAKE your own tortillas around here. I NEVER saw corn masa in the Boston area until WF showed up. This is probably a result of the chain being based in Texas.
Should I mention that WF does respond to local ethnic needs - albeit in a limited way? That they carry tortillas made in JP? That they would likely vend vegetables and fruits and other things they could sell to the local ethnic populations? In our area they tend to have supplies for Brazillian cuisines.
You probably won't read that either, because the word "burrito" appears early in the post and that makes your brain stop. Why bother.
Comprehension is just fine ma'am
I find it odd that people can't find places to play baseball. My kid goes to the park and there's plenty of places to play soccer.
In fairness, yes I guess you weren't making an argument. You were just being your usual superior self.
Strawman
You are complaining that there are no parks.
People point out that there are parks to play baseball in, and you then whine that they don't accomodate cricket and Australian Rules football and that makes them too white.
pointless argument
I'm not one of the anti-WF people ma'am. You don't have to convince me about the issue. People are complaining about the loss of a food outlet that caters to their specific desires (which I think we're both assuming to be Caribbean) and you said "I buy Mexican food at WF." They weren't asking for TexMex, but I guess that makes them too ethnic. If what you meant was maybe WF will start to carry more Caribbean food in the JP store so they (anti-WFers) should give them (WF) a chance, you could have said it.
I find it amazing that we could be discussing the mating habits of lemurs, gasket issues on 1975 Peterbilts or the issues surrounding bank regulatory policies of 18th century Portugal and you would not only have an opinion on the matter but first-hand experience and savvy of the subject that trumps all who would dare question your declarations. I more often than not agree with you and think you normally have a good sense of humor, but it's been noted before that you have an overbearing attitude that is very off-putting. Good day ma'am. And stuff your f'n burritos.
Um...
If you're not advocating for Hi Lo to return to Hyde Square, then what's your idea of a "good fit" to replace it?
I have so many issues with your post that I really don't know where to start. I find it offensive that you pretend to speak for a community to which you clearly do not belong. You seem to be blaming a single business--one that has shown itself repeatedly to be a good corporate citizen--for a legion of issues that it has nothing to do with. And re gentrification, the arrival of WF is the symptom, not the cause. If you were really concerned about the gentrification of JP, you're about twenty years too late and you seem to have a pretty slender grasp of the way neighborhoods work and evolve. And last--if, as you claim, there'd are many shopping options available, why try to regulate which ones are a "good fit" for our diverse neighborhood?
Sally hit the nail on the head
Wait, you mean diversity isn't when a small group of people carefully dictate what is and isn't allowed in the neighborhood? ;-)
Another wannabe hippie that
Another wannabe hippie that doesn't get it. There's this thing called PRIVATE PROPERTY. You don't have any say in who Knapp Foods rents that building to. I'm sure Knapp Foods would love to let their building sit idle for a while and lose them money if it makes you feel better.
Seriously. Are you really this deluded about how the world works?
You have a small group of
You have a small group of Anarchists, Socialists and Communists who are trying to make JP their own little enclave, seperate from reality. Private property means nothing - they would rather redistribute wealth to make everyone "equal".
All of this whining is pathetic. If you don't like the way Capitalism works, move to Venezuela and enjoy your $2 a day pay. At least then you can all feel like you are part of the proletariat. Seriously, this is a non-issue. The deal is done.
j for justice?
Capitalist Pig: thank you! People seem to have forgotten that our economic system is capitalism, and that for all its problems, it works better than the other choices. The poverty pimps make a living from public money, though, and they seem always able to find mindless kids to support their silly arguments. We need some basic education on the capitalist economic system.
Time for Sabotage
Spread some rumors that the soy cheese at city feed or Harvest *may* contain rennet.
Wait
It also left off the products that are ridiculously more expensive at Stop and Shop or Shaw's. Most meatless (as in, specifically meatless items like veggie patties or Tofurky slices, not as in non-meat-containing items like pasta and orange juice) products are much cheaper at Whole Foods. The 365-brand stuff also is much cheaper than anything remotely comparable at Shaws or S&S.
Whole Foods in Cambridge
I live near Central Square in Cambridge. I have 2 Whole Foods within a mile of my house. I almost never shop at either of them. Instead, I buy groceries at The Harvest Coop. Residents of JP will be faced with the same choice. They can choose to support a local small business or export their money out of their community by shopping at Whole Foods.
While I generally don't support Whole Foods, I support their right to homogenize yet another community. Surely, Starbucks is close on their heels.
Did someone say....
Did someone say Polish ham? Mmmm...
Have these idiots even approached Market Basket?
I would think they would be a viable alternative, given the overwhelming success of the Somerville and Chelsea stores,no?
Why don't they try that instead of hanging stupid banners?
5 will get you 10 they end up putting a Shaw's in there and these morons will gladly pay 4.29 for a gallon of milk when's it's probably cheaper at Whole Foods. As long as it's not evil Whole Foods, though.
Foodmaster, too
If they want a union shop, there's always Johnny's Foodblaster.
FoodMaster is much cheaper
FoodMaster is much cheaper than the non-sale prices at Whole Foods. I try to just use WF only for sales and things FM doesn't have.
Shaw's, LOL. Porter Square
Shaw's, LOL. Porter Square prices remind me of shopping in Hawaii. $5.49 for a box of "natural" cereal that's $2.99 at Whole Foods.
Maybe the guy who wanted to ram an Ocean State Job Lot down Somerville's throat would be verry interested in this space. That'll teach 'em.
hyperbole is pain in my essholes
How does opening a business consist of ramming it down a city's throat?
Shaw's
No kidding on those prices. I lived in Porter Square for a year and couldn't believe how expensive it was. I used to get a Zipcar and go to Market Basket every couple of weeks and it still worked out cheaper.
Now that I live in the North End, Whole Foods is my main stop. Yes, I probably spend more money there than I would if I hiked out to Johnny's or MB, but that's usually because I threw a hunk of Wensleydale with cranberries, or Valrhona baking chocolate in my basket, not because I can't find cheap, healthy options.
Perhaps the anti WF folks can
open their own market, with prices they set... or better yet, make it truly affordable and give the food away!
Turds.
Some reasoning...
OK... I've lived in JP, worked in JP... I've shopped at Hi-Lo a million times. I just want to offer some middle ground on this whole thing (not that it will make a difference).
The bad guy is NOT Whole Foods, it is Hi-Lo - They decided to sell their business, despite doing pretty well. From what I saw on a daily basis (we're talking up until about June of 2010), Hi-Lo was always packed. Those of you saying they went out of business because they didn't get customers - you have the slightest clue to what you are talking about.
Hi-Lo decided to make some money and sell the property. And guess what, if Whole Foods even decided in the end to stop opening the store, it's not going to go back to Hi-Lo! It's never going to be Hi-Lo unless someone else buys it, and calls it Hi-Lo...
This is all sort of an 'I-95 lite'...
Whole Foods
Bingo! Hi-Lo left because it was profitable for them to sell. No one forced them out.
Whole Foods is coming because they perceive an underserved market. No one forced them in.
20 years ago Lo Violinos was in Hyde Square. Although it was a fun place closing was violent. When that club left the crime racheted down.
Whole Foods is trying to pre-empt the coming market. Seeing as how Hi-Lo left on it s own their entrance is far better than an empty building.
The only thing that can stop Whole Foods would be a resurgence of crime.
Speaking of knowing what you are talking about....
Neither the property or the business was sold. Knapp Foods, who owns the property and ran Hi-Lo, closed the store and rented the space to Whole Foods.
kids will be kids
kids will be kids
So this white college student moves to JP
And promptly sets about trying to keep other white people from moving to JP:
Why white people should oppose Whole Foods coming to Jamaica Plain
I agree wholeheartedly -
I agree wholeheartedly - enough with this diversity crap, there's nothing wrong with an all-white neighborhood.
It's the hypocrisy, not the skin tone
If this person is so concerned about white people crowding out Latinos, why hasn't he or she moved out - after finding a suitable Latino family to move into that cool JP apartment?
Beautiful catch, adamg
Initially, I thought this piece might be satire, but I think it's for real.
Don't worry, the young, affluent clueless trying to be "liberal" tend to give up and take that corporate finance job from daddy, once the hippie chick they're banging and trying to impress bangs someone else.
Back pages
In the world of the internet, your back pages never go away.
Chris Knighton will forever be tied to this bizarre logical pirouette. Please tell me he's a law student... ah, no, a Northeastern senior in electrical and mechanical engineering interested in the energy industry.
"A few months ago, I became a Jamaica Plain resident myself..." lulz!
I do hope this is getting him laid, because it'll do nothing for his career.
Everyone . . .
. . . is a Plato.
oh...
...grrrrroooooaaannnnn....
Just found this now, but I
Just found this now, but I wanted to reply. I find your claim that I'm being hypocritical to be baseless.
My entire article is about how white people living in JP can stand in solidarity with lower income people and people of color in the neighborhood by supporting the fight against gentrification in JP. My article is about how our actions and words speak louder than our appearances and that White people do not have to be gentrifiers. But if white people do want to stand for affordability and diversity, then I think it is important that they take a stand against gentrification because otherwise they are complicit in it, as it is white people themselves who are attracting corporate gentrifying forces.
Nowhere in my article am I telling white people to not move to JP, so you saying that "this is hypocritical for me to write" being that I'm a white middle class person who recently moved to JP doesn't really make any sense, and it seems to me like you just want to dismiss anything I have to say instead of considering it and considering your own role and the good and bad effects it has in our world.
What?
I'm not following that argument.
You don't have to say it because it's so strongly implied
First, thanks for the comments!
One of the central assumptions of the Whose Food movement is that housing in JP is a zero-sum game: Affluent whites (and the argument is always about affluent whites, not affluent Hispanics or blacks) move in and therefore lower-class Hispanics have to move out.
To some degree, I agree with that idea: There isn't a whole lot of new housing coming on line in JP (certainly some, but not tons and tons), so if you think that these hordes of rich white people are just dying to move in, it's mostly going to be at the expense of the poor folks, especially since the gentrification trend for the past three decades in JP has been along Centre Street from the Arborway up towards Bromley-Heath.
So for white people to be anti-gentrification in JP is to take a position that the neighborhood has to keep out more white people. That's certainly their right. But that's where I see the hypocrisy coming in in a posting like yours: You say you're against gentrification and white people in a neighborhood you just moved into. Yes, you're a starving soon-to-be-ex college student right now. But you're not going to stay that way, trust me (I say as a former starving ex-college student). You're a child of white privilege and, like it or not, as much a part of the wave of white gentrification as that financial-services couple who can't wait to drive their fancy imported car to the Whole Foods. Why should you be allowed in, but not the very next person who picks up an apartment or condo listing?
But, but, but...
When you're a college communist (who can afford to go to college and to rent a place in Boston), you will take at least one class that raises your social consciousness. And you will smoke weed with this hot white-rasta chick who's into free love, and you impress her with your soulfulness. You even do a smoky drum circle and tribal dance sometimes, and your invested in a trip to Burning Man to check out the drugs and the naked chicks, as you were all one people, a shared organism, at one with Gaia. You know ALL ABOUT the plights of the less fortunate, you understand them, you are one of them. You must reach out to the ignorant people of privilege, from your wizened place as great white champion of your dark-skinned brothers. You live among them, you were raised by them. You are Tarzan, lord of the apes. And your loincloth is as full as the largest black man's. Now, and up to 12 months after graduation, when the 'rents are bitching about you not having a real career, and the little punk products of urban deserter dads and illegal aliens keep breaking into your hand-me-down Beamer at night, and you're sick of the shitty nightlife and lack of middle-class conveniences, and you decide it's time for some gentrifying, man.
Gentrification is a symptom
Gentrification is a symptom of increased property values. Therefore, you are saying that white people that move into the neighborhood have an obligation to find a way to reduce property values?
Well, there's two ways of doing that: (1) increase supply of housing, (2) decrease demand for housing.
Everytime (1) is tried, people complain. How about (2)?
[snark]
Perhaps every white person who moves into JP should be required to mug an old lady? That'll help keep property values down.
[/snark]