gentrification

A new movie about Chicago; an unbelievable road diet in Buenos Aires creates 100 blocks of pedestrian space; and a tour of the vibrant city of Accra. Plus, another idea for solving San Francisco’s housing crisis, and everyone’s favorite cokehead mayor hits the late night talk show circuit, all in this week’s Urban Reads. A…

For Boys, Moving to a Richer Neighborhood Can Be as Traumatic as War

Could moving out of a bad neighborhood actually be worse for kids? A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that relocating families to a more affluent environment can cause children to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder—especially boys. Low-income neighborhoods are generally thought to be unhealthier for kids due to…

Changes in Red Hook, violence in Kiev, and new ideas for Paris from mayoral candidates. Plus Bogotá bans cars for a week, California might divide into six states, and the surprising history of Hollywood. These are all the Urban Reads you need. “The trolleys were a reminder of a different era in Red Hook, a…

Watch New York City Gentrify in These Jaw-Dropping GIFs

Gentrification can’t stop, won’t stop. Artist and programmer Justin Blinder grabbed cached images from Google Street View featuring construction sites in Brooklyn and Manhattan over the past four years, then joined before-and-after pics together in a pretty eye-opening series he calls Vacated. He sourced the sites with a little help from the NYC Department of…

When Does a Neighborhood Become “Good”?

“Is Harlem good now?” That’s the question that Ethiopian-born, Swedish-raised chef Marcus Samuelsson gets asked the most about his neighborhood. In Sunday’s New York Times, Samuelsson wrote an insightful op-ed about watching Harlem change over the past decade. Samuelsson, who has lived in Harlem for 10 years and opened his acclaimed restaurant Red Rooster there…

Tech Workers, Walking, Loneliness: What’s Ruining Our Cities This Week

Those damn dot-commers are still mucking up San Fran, parents are passing along their dangerous pedestrian ways to the next generation, a giant suitcase is an eyesore in Red Square, and—sigh—we’re all so lonely. These things and more are What’s Ruining Our Cities. Tech riches are ruining San Francisco This is not a new tale…

Mayors, Mascots, Illegal Condos: What’s Ruining Our Cities This Week

This week in What’s Ruining Our Cities: Racist mascots! Illegal apartments! Hedge fund slumlords! Basically everything you’d expect from some Sin City bargain bin fan fiction, except in Calfornia, China, and beyond. An offensive mascot is ruining Coachella Valley The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee is asking the school district in Southern California’s Coachella Valley to change…