Reflections on Defying Displacement Andrew Lee’s Defying Displacement is a wonderful exploration of contemporary struggles against gentrification. Placing gentrification in the context of the “Great Inversion” seen in many cities, where wealth has become reconcentrated in urban cores while the working class is pushed out into the suburbs, Lee’s book is far reaching and robust,Continue reading “Who are the Gentrifiers?”
Category Archives: General
STRIKETHROUGH || DEMAND MORE SUPPLY
DEMAND MORE SUPPLY A new billboard recently cropped up on the I-80 with a simple message: Home Prices High, Build More Supply. Just to drive their point home, the group which put the ad there displayed their name prominently alongside this message, Demand More Supply. Playing off the econ 101 concept of supply and demand,Continue reading “STRIKETHROUGH || DEMAND MORE SUPPLY”
Reflections on Urban Revolution: Detroit in the 70s, Salt Lake Today
Detroit: I Do Mind Dying presents itself as a Study in Urban Revolution. Throughout the book, authors Dan Georgakas and Maravin Surkin present the actions of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, the subject of the book, in contrast to the emerging vision of New Detroit. Backed by the major capitalist firms and political interestsContinue reading “Reflections on Urban Revolution: Detroit in the 70s, Salt Lake Today”
Reclaiming the Rio Grande
Years after Washington Square was occupied by activists in protest of plans to shutter the downtown Road Home shelter, the land the shelter once sat upon has a new name, the Luma. The reclamation of this land by capital was long in the making, tracing several decades of struggle over the future of downtown. ButContinue reading “Reclaiming the Rio Grande”
POST Industrial – New Opportunities to Exploit
Just outside of downtown Salt Lake City lies a transitional space between several historically working class neighborhoods to the east and a vast industrial area to the west. In redlining maps from the mid-20th century, this area was described as “inhabited by working people” and situated “between the business and industrial areas,” which earned theContinue reading “POST Industrial – New Opportunities to Exploit”
UTRU — Not the Riders Union We Need
Urbanism is back in the mainstream. Cranes litter the skyline, cities are redesigning their flags, and those the previous generation would have derided as “yuppies” have rallied behind urban capitalists. In the midst of heated debates over metropolitan growth along the Wasatch Front, a handful of political staffers and upper-middle-class professionals came together to formContinue reading “UTRU — Not the Riders Union We Need”
The Port and The Point – State Intervention in the Utah Economy
An exploration of the Inland Port and the Point of the Mountain state-led redevelopment efforts.
From Anti-Gentrification to Revolutionary Urbanism
The ills of gentrification are well known, despite its continued denial by some. In Salt Lake City, because of the struggles of the Rose Park Brown Berets, the city has even recognized the severity of the urban crisis it produced, even going so far as to recognize its helplessness to act effectivley against its onslaught.Continue reading “From Anti-Gentrification to Revolutionary Urbanism”
A Sick Valley
The Great Salt Lake and Colorado River are drying up, and the state government wants to pay farmers not to farm. An inland port threatens to bring tons of new freight traffic through the valley, and the city government is worried it won’t get its fair share of the new tax revenue. The Oquirrh mountainsContinue reading “A Sick Valley”
Vacant Luxury – What the Economic Development Engine Wrought along the S-Line
“[The S-Line is] primarily an economic development engine and secondarily, a transportation mode.” University of Utah Professor Reid Ewing for the Salt Lake Tribune Trains are cool and streetcars are no exception. Walking along Parleys trail is absolutely lovely and seeing the S-Line glide by is pure bliss. But the S-Line wasn’t built for meContinue reading “Vacant Luxury – What the Economic Development Engine Wrought along the S-Line”