City Pages: New Seward Co-op hit with 'Gentrifier' slur and a list of demands

[geardaddy]

Really? Gentrifier is a slur now?
http://www.citypages.com/news/new-seward-co-op-hit-with-gentrifier-slur-and-a-list-of-demands-7708185

Neighborhood organizations argue many residents can't afford co-op goods and want a less-white staff.
Who knew organic kale could be so controversial?

Next Tuesday, the Seward Co-op plans to open its "Friendship" store in south Minneapolis. But not everyone is thrilled about high-end produce coming to 38th Street and 3rd Avenue.

An online petition with more than 1,000 signatures bills the healthy-hippie grocer as a sign of gentrification and wants the co-op to negotiate a “community benefits agreement.” Launched by Marcus Harcus under the banner of the Central Area Neighborhood Development Organization (CANDO) and the Bryant Neighborhood Organization, the petition states that the co-op would be unaffordable to many residents and its staff would not reflect the neighborhood's diversity.

A Tuesday press conference was nixed hours ahead of time as the sides had yet to iron out certain details of a planned statement.

I for one agree that the Seward should take into account that they are opening an high-end store in a traditionally African-American neighborhood and that they should work with the neighborhood to become more accessible to the people there.

[get the red out]

1. I miss when co-ops were old hippie stores

Ours has priced me right out of shopping there very much. I miss it.

Needless to say, I get the gentrification point.

[99th_Monkey]

2. Sounds like they are working things out, and that's good.

The predominantly black area of Portland, where I live, has been pretty much "gentrified",
and yes it is a slur, of sorts. Much of the white influx has been hipsters buying-up houses
and/oropening store-front artsy businesses. This is a real issue. I used to live in this area
back in the 60's, when it was 95% AA. There were lots of black-owned businesses, many
soul food cafes, some great black-owned night clubs, and a smattering of other types.

Now most are gone.

I don't know the answer to all this, but it's at least good that in this case, people are talking
with each other and they're finding a way forward that addresses the needs of the community.

[geardaddy]

3. In Minneapolis, the gentrifiers are big development corps mostly

Instead of creating mixed income areas, they're creating luxury apartments and condos.

[notadmblnd]

4. What happened to them?

Was POC businesses forced out? Did the community not support them?

[geardaddy]

5. I'm not aware of any existing business that was forced to close

I believe the site was empty.

[99th_Monkey]

7. I'm not sure, because I didn't live in Portland from 1972-99

I came back in 2000, and the change had already begun big-time.

Maybe some others on DU can answer your question, but I just don't know. sorry.

[geardaddy]

6. Yes, it is good that people are talking to each other.

The fear is that the products will be out of reach economically for the residents of the neighborhood.

[Daemonaquila]

8. "Gentrifier" is absolutely a slur in many neighborhoods.

Before I moved to Texas, I lived in Central where this is going on. There was a lot of good done by some of the "gentrification" there, but also a lot of negatives. The up side was that the almost 100% boarded and vacant Lake Street area (thanks to it all being the property of a "porn king" who was nailed by the feds, whereafter it sat vacant for over a decade) became commercial again, and the area had only 1 boarded and vacant property in comparison to the neighborhood across Lake, Phillips, which had a crazy boarded and vacant rate. The new Lake Street and other businesses that moved in were generally diverse (Somali immigrants starting new businesses, multiple hispanic and latino business owners, etc.), BUT RELATIVELY FEW of the new businesses were owned by African-Americans, especially Central residents or people who lived nearby in other neighborhoods. The biggest down side was that property values were rising and there was pressure put on long-time residents to spend a lot of money on upgrading their properties, and especially difficult were the rises in their property taxes. Some long-time residents - mostly African-American and elderly - could no longer afford to live in houses that were paid off decades ago.

In Central, the term "gentrifier" especially became a slur because a bunch of the redevelopment was pushed by white, relatively wealthy business owners and guys running nonprofits in the area, who often did not live in Central. The push was to raise property values, make the area business friendly uber alles (especially for themselves and their buddies who wanted a great deal), support Honeywell (no longer the headquarters now, but a huge complaint from them was that their - mostly white, suburban - workers had to *swoon* travel through that *gasp* awful, "dirty" neighborhood, and they had "no place to have lunch," i.e., no demographically "white" places like Panera, Chipotle, etc.), and so on. This was all done without any thought for long-term residents that MADE Central what it was, or respect for the predominantly African-American communities of color that lived there.

38th and 3rd is kind of a "gray zone" between low to lower middle class families in Central, and the middle class neighborhoods that morph into upper middle class as the avenue numbers increase. It was a good move on their part to choose that location, because they're putting themselves on the very border of an area where the more upper end restaurants, coffee shops, specialty stores, etc. start, and incomes rise. On the other hand, Central has been wanting a decent, local grocery store for years, especially where residents can get fruits and veggies, not just high-priced convenience stores with little selection and low quality. There definitely is a market - for those who can afford it anyway - for the co-op in Central.

But there is also some baggage about a grocery. A mostly African-American group was trying to create a grocery (again) in the neighborhood years back, without much financial backing. There was a convenience/grocery store on the border that was frequented by a lot of the less well-off local community members, especially younger people, that was controversial for drug dealing, etc. There were both people who wanted it shut down at all costs, and those who felt the push was racially motivated and would greatly impact mostly poorer, younger African-American residents. So in that mix, feelings would run pretty high over Seward Co-Op (which is an excellent inner-city grocery) coming in with relatively much higher prices than what has been seen in the neighborhood and in comparison (at least for some products) to the large grocery chains a few miles down Lake Street, especially with a predominantly white staff. The complaint about them not hiring local, mostly African-American and hispanic workers is really apt. The community wants a grocery store of its own, not an outside store owned and staffed by people from other communities who don't remotely share the racial demographic of the neighborhood.

[geardaddy]

9. Ah, ok I see what you're saying.

In Central, the term "gentrifier" especially became a slur because a bunch of the redevelopment was pushed by white, relatively wealthy business owners and guys running nonprofits in the area, who often did not live in Central. The push was to raise property values, make the area business friendly uber alles (especially for themselves and their buddies who wanted a great deal), support Honeywell (no longer the headquarters now, but a huge complaint from them was that their - mostly white, suburban - workers had to *swoon* travel through that *gasp* awful, "dirty" neighborhood, and they had "no place to have lunch," i.e., no demographically "white" places like Panera, Chipotle, etc.), and so on. This was all done without any thought for long-term residents that MADE Central what it was, or respect for the predominantly African-American communities of color that lived there.

You're saying that the Seward isn't being like the previous gentrifiers.

[Daemonaquila]

12. Well, they might or might not be.

That's going to be up to them - are they going to work WITH the neighbors in Central, or are they going to charge merrily along without addressing the concerns?

"Gentrification" in this case is a really gray area. On one hand, if they just go do whatever they want to do without supporting the neighborhood, they're asshats and a detriment to the community. On the other, if they are good neighbors, despite great prices on some items and very expensive prices on others and everything in between, they still can be a really good thing for many families there who just don't have access to fresh food without a major effort.

I don't believe things have changed much in terms of groceries since I left. We had a horrible market on the other side of 35 on Lake, which sold rotten/spoiled food in filthy conditions. They weren't cheap, either. Las Americas on Lake wasn't full service, and sadly unless people spoke Spanish, they mostly didn't go there. Plus, not cheap. You could subsist on convenience items from Cup or a couple other relatively nearby stores, but that was very expensive and mostly junk food. You could travel several miles down Lake in either direction to a Rainbow, or to Cub towards the river. For a lot of people, especially feeding a family, that was a long hike by bus for not a lot of groceries that could be easily brought back. Way back, I drove taxi for a while and remember how desperate some people were to maximize their bang of travel cost versus what they could afford to buy and what they could manage to bring back with one or two people. These days, Cub and Rainbow have somewhat cleaned up from when I lived there, but the Lake Street locations still have a ton of processed food vs. fresh, and the quality of veggies and fruits still were not so good. Earlier on, I had to avoid buying cold cuts, sliced cheese, and most dairy, and had to be very careful in buying meat - more than once I got home and the product was already bad. I'll never forget the turkey that looked nice on one side, and was green on the other.

Grocery stores are such a big deal for city dwellers. People in my neighborhood couldn't afford Lund's or Kowalski's or Whole Foods. You'd think that Cub or Rainbow, which had really nice food in some of the more suburban areas, wouldn't send all their awful stuff to these stores that blatantly, but they did. It's amazing how grocery stores are the biggest sign of racism and classism in these areas. You get nice stores in the vicinity, but they're only for the wealthy folk who can pay double what they'd pay at the other store 2 blocks away. So, I want to hope for Seward being a good guy instead of a bad guy. I guess only time will tell.

[geardaddy]

13. I completely agree about bringing shops with fresh produce to those areas

Many areas in Minneapolis are food deserts and need shops with access to fresh produce. I just hope that the Seward works with the neighborhood to help those less economically fortunate.

[geardaddy]

10. I went to junior high at Bryant (now the Sabathani Center)

The area is much more vibrant now. I like co-ops (we're members of The Wedge), and while I don't think overall that this is gentrification in action, there is legitimate concern for bringing in a grocery that is out of the price range of many in the neighborhood.

The Nicollet and 38th street intersection is definitely being gentrified with restaurants that cater to a higher income than people in the surrounding area have.

We have friends who live on 38th and Nicollet and they are disappointed that there aren't more economically viable dining options.

[glinda]

11. And MN will see more of this especially the TC area due to

climate change and those with money investing large. Like they are right now in the high end condos which you see in neighborhoods that would not normally have that rent or ownership price rate. Just look at East Hennepin. I suspect also that most of that money has Conservative ties also so they gain clout in City politics and decision making while throwing history and residents out the window.
Nothing more satisfying for a conservative then to turn a blue state red. gag*.
Places that I used to live in Mpls. in those areas I could no longer afford now. And in thinking of possibly moving back home (somewhere) I need to find a good Co-op. I went to the original first ones in the City. Showing my age.....
But even the Co-op in st. Cloud as well in Brainerd are not cheap at all.

[rbixby]

14. From what I read in comments sections

Conservatives tend to hate Minneapolis because there's too many liberals and PoC, they'd prefer to stay in the suburbs where they can let their preconceived notions fester.

[dflprincess]

15. Depends on which suburb

I think the Cons are having to move further and further out if they want to avoid PoC. With any luck, they'll soon find themselves in Wisconsin or the Dakotas.

[glinda]

16. Unless you want power. Then you buy your position on boards and Councils and in elections.