Overview

Gentrification is transforming cities, small and large, across the country. Though it’s easy to bemoan the diminished social diversity and transformation of commercial strips that often signify a gentrifying neighborhood, determining who actually benefits and who suffers from this nebulous process can be much harder. The full story of gentrification is rooted in large-scale social and economic forces as well as in extremely local specifics—in short, it’s far more complicated than both its supporters and detractors allow. In Newcomers, journalist Matthew L. Schuerman explains how a phenomenon that began with good intentions has turned into one of the most vexing social problems of our time. He builds a national story using focused histories of northwest Brooklyn, San Francisco’s Mission District, and the onetime site of Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing project, revealing both the commonalities among all three and the place-specific drivers of change. Schuerman argues that gentrification has become a too-easy flashpoint for all kinds of quasi-populist rage and pro-growth boosterism. In Newcomers, he doesn’t condemn gentrifiers as a whole, but rather articulates what it is they actually do, showing not only how community development can turn foul, but also instances when a “better” neighborhood truly results from changes that are good. Schuerman draws no easy conclusions, using his keen reportorial eye to create sharp, but fair, portraits of the people caught up in gentrification, the people who cause it, and its effects on the lives of everyone who calls a city home.

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9780226476261

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Reviews

Solid sociology in pursuit of an issue that continues to confound. . . Schuerman unpacks the loaded word gentrification, allowing readers to understand it as a complex phenomenon in urban neighborhoods--never entirely negative or entirely positive and usually a mixture that improves the lots of some residents while hurting others. --Kirkus Reviews Gentrification has found its perfect biographer. Newcomers is a beautiful, gripping page-turner, reminding us that gentrification has been a central element of American urbanism for at least half a century--and one that continues to drive policy debates and culture wars. --Elvin Wyly, University of British Columbia Newcomers is a revelation and one of the very best books on cities and urbanism I've read in some time. Schuerman parses the pros and cons of gentrification with facts and level-headed analysis. Required reading for mayors, housing experts and advocates, neighborhood activists, developers, and urbanites of all stripes. --Richard Florida, author of The New Urban Crisis Newcomers is a sophisticated and original account of gentrification. It casts new light on familiar places, from Brooklyn to Chicago and San Francisco, and tells deeply human stories of neighborhood change. Schuerman's analysis is refreshingly free of nostalgia or ideology; his reporting is careful and sharp. No matter what you think about class conflict in the city, this book will challenge and captivate you. --Eric Klinenberg, author of Palaces for the People Finally, a thoughtful and nuanced book about gentrification, a rare feat that Schuerman accomplishes through old-fashioned shoe leather reporting. Newcomers is provocative and important, with the potential to reshape how we think about a polarizing topic essential to anyone who cares about our cities. --Gary Rivlin, author of Katrina: After the Flood

Author Information

Matthew L. Schuerman is senior editor at WNYC and has written for the New York Observer, Fortune, and Village Voice.

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