UNIT 2: HOME AND NEIGHBORHOOD
My name‿ is Tom. I have lived‿ in the same neighbourhood for‿ eighteen years,│ and‿ I have watched‿ an‿ area that‿ everybody agreed was neglected turn‿ into one that‿ everybody agrees‿ is desirable,│ with roughly the same residents left‿ in‿ it.
The regeneration‿ itself‿ is not the problem. We now have‿ a renovated library,│ a new health centre‿ and‿ a rebuil(t) station,│ an(d) the amenities have‿ improved beyon(d) recognition. The difficulty is displacement:│ two family bakeries have closed,│ a coffee chain has‿ opened,│ rents have doubled,│ an(d) the young families│ who constituted the social fabric have moved to the periphery. Nobody decided to remove them. A market did,│ quietly and‿ efficiently,│ an(d) the outcome‿ is‿ a neighbourhood that‿ is technically improved‿ an(d) socially thinner.
What remains‿ is‿ a sense‿ of belonging‿ among those‿ of‿ us│ who stayed,│ which‿ is har(d) to explain to somebody│ who arrived three years‿ ago an(d) finds the area pleasant. My sister lives‿ in‿ an‿ affluen(t) suburb│ where the amenities‿ are‿ excellent‿ an(d) the congestion‿ is‿ intolerable,│ an(d) she says nobody speaks to anybody. If‿ I were designing‿ a neighbourhood,│ I would put‿ a civic building‿ in the middle‿ of‿ it rather than‿ a car park,│ because‿ almost‿ every friendship‿ I have here began‿ over‿ a shopping list. A transien(t) population does not‿ invest‿ in‿ a place‿ it does not‿ expec(t) to stay in,│ and‿ I suspec(t) that‿ is the real cost‿ of‿ all this‿ improvement.