>
> In fact, I really don't even like the discourse around "gentrification",
> which I think too often expresses a moralist "us-versus-them" mentality
> among leftists as well as a real lack of reflection about their own role in
> pricing up neighborhoods. It's really clueless to see
> leftist/post-autonomist/antifa bars in Neukölln that are really spearheads
> of "gentrification" that nonetheless serve a clientel that no doubt regards
> itself as "resisting" it.
>
There's unfortunately a lot of truth to this critique. I lived in the San Francisco area for sixteen years, and witnessed a similar logic in neighborhoods like the Mission. Punks made it attractive for young professionals, not developers. Granted, I miss that version of the district, but the contradictions are parallel. Same situation is operative in Neukolln, where I now live.
>
> That is funny. I remember when Karl-Marx-Allee was basically a retirement
> ghetto for SED functionaries. I mean, the "gentrification" of
> Friedrichshain started early around the whole Boxhagener Platz area, but
> Karl-Marx-Allee between Alexanderplatz and Frankfurter Tor seemed to hold
> out for awhile. Now it seems to be changing as well.
>
>
I like the area between Alexanderplatz and Boxhagenerplatz a lot, but the
24/7 international party vibe is annoying, and the anarchist response is
predictable. The squats are picturesque, and there are a lot of old Sub Pop
Germany CDs in the used record shops. But the quality of life is wanting,
unless you're 24 and have a lot of money to throw away eating out all the
time.
> > I saw that Leipzig piece. It was in the New York Times early in the
> > summer, if I remember correctly.
>
> Have you been to Leipzig? What do you think? I thought that Times article
> was just a desperate grab to find something that could function as a "hot
> tip", now that Berlin is no longer really cutting edge. But Leipzig really
> is a joke. At least Dresden is secure enough in it's self-image as a
> Toytown Christmas market kind of city. Leipzig seems desperately trying to
> recreate itself as "little Berlin", but doesn't really have the demographics
> or the infrastructure to achieve it. And I find many the people there
> unpleasant (as a rule, there are exceptions).
>
We drive through Leipzig every few weeks, as we have to commute to Stuttgart for my wife's work. I haven't seen anything particularly glamorous that I can recall. I think that's a good reading of the Times article. My sense is that at some point, Berlin will get prohibitively expensive, at least for Eurohipsters, and there will be attempts to recreate it elsewhere.
Sounds like it has already started, at least at some kind of PR agency.
Best, Joel
>
>
>
>
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>
-- joel schalit skype: jschalit tel: +49 1514 0212899 email: jschalit at gmail.com web: www.joelschalit.com