Comments on: Dregs One on Gentrification

By: jesse

jesse — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 23:26:25 +0000

The divisiveness of the “us” and “them” rhetoric is NOT the way to collective success.

By: Miguel Sanchez

Miguel Sanchez — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 11:55:51 +0000

Born and raised in the Mission 28 years Old, I lived thru the Gangs Wars (that subsided) the dot com people in the late 90′s (they left) and this, LOOK THESE HIPSTERS WHITE POEPLE WHAT EVER YOU WANT TO CALL THEM, ARE GOING TO BE A THING OF THE PAST SOON TOO, BELIEVE IT OR NOT THE MISSION IS A PLACE WHERE LATIN FAMILIES LIKE TO RAISE THERE KIDS, DO YOU THINK THESE HIPSTERS WANT TO RAISE KIDS HERE, HELL NO, THERE HERE CUS ITS FUN AND HIP AND WHEN THEY GET OLDER AND WANT TO HAVE A REAL LIFE THEY WILL LEAVE. I SAY LET THEM SPEND THERE MONEY IN OUR LATIN STORES BUY OUR FOOD, JUST WAIT, I’VE SEEN IT BEFORE AND THATS WHATS GOIN TO HAPPEN AGAIN.

By: Wow

Wow — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 15:26:57 +0000

this kid’s video is so far off base. we really need to fix our public school system.

By: SoDeep

SoDeep — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 08:35:10 +0000

What happened to the Irish in the Mission?

By: Hammercise

Hammercise — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 03:13:02 +0000

So hey Dregs One, while I appreciate your legitimate concern about gentrification, I don’t appreciate you using video footage of my free dance performance piece,Hammercise, and wrongly tag me and my friends as the poster children for gentrification. You even interviewed me about the Mission neighborhood, yet you failed to include even one shred of my interview on your video. Without thinking to ask what our project is about and what our philosophy is, you completely took my free, community oriented, community involved project,out of context. We never ask for money. Our mission is to INVOLVE people in the community. The Mission neighborhood was one of 3 stops that day where we danced and played with people publicly. I’d be happy to provide you with photos of LOCALS PARTICIPATING with us. But in the end, you chose to stereotype me and my friends and take our interaction with the community out of context. I’m appalled to say the least, offended considering you interviewed me and used no footage of that interview, and lastly, disappointed that you failed to get the larger story about what we, Hammercise, do. We’re all about breaking down social barriers that impede people from playing, moving, and having fun. We break down social barriers by creating activities for people to participate with us, therefore getting to know each other, all for free. I ask you to please consider this next time you stereotype groups of people in “your neighborhood”. Look up Hammercise on YouTube and you might begin to understand our intentions better.

By: redseca2

redseca2 — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:05:43 +0000

I hear everything you say, but still the truth is everyplace changes. Except I guess for the very tippy top of the hills of Pacific Heights and the lowest of the Projects, they never change.

The point is, it is a two way street, and every neighborhood culture here today moved in on another at some time in the past and made the previous residents feel the way you do now, change beyond their control.

By: sparkle pony

sparkle pony — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 21:21:25 +0000

I appreciate that this video was made to stimulate reaction and create dialogue- despite hate and fear seeping from certain parts of the video and almost all responses from y’all.

a friend of mine used to say “we’re all in this together”- and thats the bottom line folks. stop the bullshit being on the defense. we all have a right to be here so make some goddamn food together and eat it too. then we can start talking about positive solutions instead of complaining. Don’t talk about it, be about it.

also- those ladies dancing at the beginning of this video are my homegirls *the derailleurs* pioneering the world of bike dance. They are working class ladies working hard to make their dreams real- so stop judging each other and dance.

By: A One

A One — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 08:57:52 +0000

Amen to that sister.

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 02:24:33 +0000

My mom was born and raised in Kansas. My dad was born and raised in Ohio. They both moved to NYC in their early twenties. They like to tell dramatic true stories about how poor they were, as struggling actors. I was born in Manhattan, then lived in Jersey City until I was 9, and then a semi-posh, 99% white suburb until I left for college.

Now I live in San Francisco. My parents still live in their house in suburban New Jersey. They really aren’t suited to the suburbs, and don’t have many close friends in the area. They’d certainly prefer to live in NYC, but they say they can’t afford it. Of course, they could afford it if they were willing to be poor again, but at this point, they’re no longer willing to be poor.

I am willing to be poor in order to live in San Francisco. As a kid, when we’d visit relatives, I’d spend the entire trip thanking God that my parents had moved to NYC, and that I had been lucky enough to grow up *near* New York.

If you were born in an amazing city, you’re lucky. If you have middle class parents, you’re lucky. I don’t think moving to an awesome city makes you a bad person. But at the very least, you should make an effort not to be snotty about the existing residents and culture of that awesome city. The snottiness is what makes some people gentrifying jerks, in my opinion.

By: Ryan Adams

Ryan Adams — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 01:20:58 +0000

It seems to me that people love street junk in this town. Have you ever seen a sofa last longer than a day?

By: Lara

Lara — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 23:33:38 +0000

Oops I mis-typed: 4th line down: “Illegal evictions, which then lead others to enjoy rent control.”

By: Lara

Lara — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 23:32:14 +0000

I’d like to thank Dregs One for posting this. I thought he addressed this in a respectful and accessible way, without accusing anyone. I would also like to respond to some of what Dr Sweet T and Calfizzy said about rent control… there are many cases in which landlords can do illegal evictions which then lead to rent control. Many of these illegal evictions are motivated by raising the rent to sell a building, then they can raise they rent as much as they like. Guess who USUALLY suffers the eviction? Families of color. You might not hear about it here, because they are generally not blogging.

Also, of course “rich people” (if you mean established, later in life rich people) don’t live in the Mission. All their kids do. They go to school and live there for 4 years, enjoy all it’s beauty and luxury without ever having to think for a second about what gradual steps enabled them to arrive there, and leave their junk for everyone to collect in the street.

Think, people. Use your heart.

By: ack

ack — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 23:31:06 +0000

I would feel pretty frustrated if due to economical restraints I was basically forced out of where I grew up. Though, blaming that on “outsiders” is slanderous. Blame your parents for not making an economically wise choice. Everyone knows and has known that SF is expensive and that there is an impending super-quake coming our way. No matter how you look at it – living in SF may not be the wisest of choices.

But we love it. Everyone loves SF… except for homophobic republicans who are closet dick suckers. Most of the “outsiders” that I know that have moved to the TL, lower-haight or the mission over the decade I’ve been here – have lived in shit houses. Really, cheap, terribly shitty places. It’s not our fault that the yuppies always show up after us.

By: Califizzy

Califizzy — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 21:22:47 +0000

What makes me angry is how people seem to think that being from the working class gives them a right to be prejudice against benders.

By: Brock Keeling

Brock Keeling — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 21:16:50 +0000

Screw the middle classes! I will never accept them, and they will never deny me anything again. My father’s other family were middle class and we were kept out of sight, hidden from view, at his funeral.