What Happens to the People of a Gentrified City
Jersey City resident Nate Kelly used to live downtown in a $900/month apartment, but when his rent more than tripled to $3,500 a few years ago, he was forced to move out. Like many other long-time JC residents, the Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School English teacher has seen Downtown Jersey City transform from a typical urban area to a lively financial center, with a hip mindset and expensive tastes.
“Ten years ago, [Downtown] wasn’t even a blip on their radar,” Kelly said of the newspapers’ and magazines’ recent interest in Jersey City. “And now all of a sudden (we’re in) The New York Times and (we’re) the Sixth Borough.”
Kelly has been teaching at the downtown Jersey City public school for the last 10 years and lived in the city for the last eight, and the continuous building projects and development plans have never ceased to surprise him.
There has been incessant building since Kelly’s arrival in 2006, from the investments in the Waterfront Walkway and several public parks to high-rise buildings, restaurants and bars. But the projects and emphasis on development have changed the city not only visually, but also substantially, Kelly said.
“Twenty years ago, you wouldn’t want to go here. Ten years ago, it was up and coming. And now it’s very friendly… Everything about it is changing and with that the culture changes,” he said.
But what’s concerning for Kelly, and he believes most other Jersey City residents, is why only one part of the city is changing. Although the municipal government works to spread initiatives like the Citi Bike placements and the funding of street art throughout JC, it’s still highly saturated in the areas around the Grove Street, Exchange Place and Pavonia Path stations.
Kelly said the improvements that he’s noticed to schools, streets and other public services are also isolated to the downtown area, which has contributed to a complete metamorphosis of the area, making it unrecognizable to city veterans.
“When I was a kid I wasn’t suppose to go Downtown” said Matt Hogan, who grew up on Magnolia Street (on “the Hill”) and lived in Jersey City for 27 years. “Downtown was a lot of burnt old brownstone buildings. Newport (Centre Mall) wasn’t here. It was Colgate, and it was mainly commercial [and] industrial.”
Hogan works at City Hall and has seen the administrative efforts behind the improvements to Downtown and the rest of Jersey City, although the two areas have progressed at different rates.
The positive progress Downtown Jersey City has capitalized on has also ostracized it from the other areas of Jersey City — Greenville, the Heights, Bergen-Lafayette and Journal Square, all seem to have been left behind, Kelly said.
“The changes are really funny because they’re cultural and they’re cosmetic. But you start thinking about it and you’re like ‘Oh my god,’ going Downtown looks like how Manhattan used to look,” he said.
Besides residents, several major news outlets have noticed these changes like the New York Times, which wrote “Moving to Jersey City? Join the Club,” and noted the trajectory of gentrification JC was set for. New Geography also wrote an article comparing Jersey City to western Brooklyn, its gentrified cousin on the other side of the Manhattan island. Finally, Jersey City residents could not deny downtown’s rapid industrialization anymore with the May announcement to open a Whole Foods across the street from the Grove Street Path Station.
Gentrification usually entails a population change characterized by middle- and upper-income people moving into a community previously occupied by people of a lower income. This process of displacement is often an unfortunate reality for people of color.
According to NJTV News, “Since 2000, the population of Downtown went from just over 31,000 to almost 39,000. Poor and working class blacks went from 18 percent of the population to 9 percent. Puerto Ricans, from 17 percent to 8 percent. Meanwhile, whites went from 46 percent of the population to 56 percent.”
The division of the city becomes more deep-seated as people with the means choose to remain insular within the safe confinements of Downtown. As the influx of people with higher incomes permeate throughout JC, establishments begin to cater to this changing clientele, which unfortunately excludes as much as it invites. Some of these stores include artisanal products, art exhibitions and organic produce — luxuries not everyone can afford.
“I don’t know if someone from the Heights or Journal Square could go to an art gallery here [Downtown] without thinking ‘Am I really part of the community or just a visitor?’” Kelly said.
It’s a burden to feel like you’re not part of the community you live in, Kelly said. And the crossover between the two “Jersey Cities” is harder for some compared to others.
“One thing that changes it — and this is with any area — is… if you’re a person trying to bridge that gap between less developed and gentrified, it’s an even bigger gap if you’re a person of color because then it’s like ‘did you earn your entry into this?’” Kelly said. “… You have to prove to yourself, you have to prove to the dominant culture. And it’s different if you’re gay, it’s different if you’re middle-aged… these dimensions are even worse if you’re broken into sub categorizes [or look at it with intersectionality].”
Although gentrification in Downtown may create discomfort for some, the potential for that area of JC was bleak when Colgate moved from the city, and it shifted from an industrial to financial area.
“[Downtown] went from industrial to financial. And the brownstones they were giving away, now you can’t afford to pay the maintenance fees — let alone the rents. The difference is night and day,” Hogan said. “Some people say it’s gentrified, it’s bad, but I think it’s great. The city still has flavor. There are other little neighborhoods that actually need some boosting up, but I think the improvements to Downtown have been a boom to the rest of the city… the improvements will hopefully work their way through the city: into Journal Square into Marion down to West Side. I think that has to be the goal.”
The question for the municipality is whether it can continue to draw the diverse group of people the city is known for across the U.S. and maintain its flavor as its gentrification continues even with the best intentions.
“In gentrified areas… it’s a blanket thing, ‘Everyone’s welcome,’” Kelly said. “But behind it you’re like, ‘Wait a minute, how welcome am I?’ unless you’re spending money.”
