Markus Stoehle
RHET 106
Monday, April 16th
Julia Schulte
1st Draft
Gentrification; what is this term? It is the process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste. Just imagine it as the “dirty, lesser-rich area” being replaced by the higher-upper class. It is the flow of richer and more prosperous people entering an area with their luxury condominiums, organic Italian gelato stores, cafes that serve almond milk lattes and glamorous bakeries that offer gluten-free chocolate milk cookies. San Francisco has rapidly, over time, become excessively popular among the high-tech innovators and pioneers. With its urban edginess, and the aesthetic artistic feeling you get walking among the streets of SF, it has become one of the most admired and well-liked areas in California. In the core of the city, the Mission District, you will find many diverse and ethnically multicultural people, working side by side in their long-run mom & pop stores. This place has historically been the home to many Mexican and Central American families, whom lives in small apartments and narrow Victorian buildings. Along these old streets you’ll find bars, bakeries and auto mechanic shops where Spanish is spoken. Such as Chinatown, this unique neighborhood defines the heart and soul of San Francisco, but the gentrification – powered by the yearning and thirst of tech-geeks – is faster and more desired here than anywhere else. Because of this popularity rising, the housing prices have skyrocketed; studio apartments are listed online between $2,500 and $3,000! Even worse, there are one-bedroom apartments that go up to $4,000. No wonder there are families that are forced out of these buildings. After these families pack their stuff and leave their old homes behind, the rent is pushed back up to market rate, and they become condominiums or the living place for other Airbnb short-term visitors.
Components:
Proposal Statements
Describe Problem
Your solution: justify/benefits/feasibility
Previous/current attempts to solve problem
Counterarguments
References: