"Stop picking on the white people!!!"

Or so a regular and active Hispanic attendee of the Cole Neighborhood Association meetings says from time to time. (Please note again, I do NOT represent or speak for CNA, nor am I a frequent attendee of their meetings. Again, my posts don't claim to be anything than my personal opinion)
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"Everydaylife" writes in the Denver City Data Forum: "We moved to the Cole/Whittier last year because we were looking for affordable housing close to downtown in an area that is turning around"

A reply from "Frank in Denver": "Turning around from what? Is socio-economically cleansing a neighborhood of those with less income and forcing them further out from the city core something to be proud of? What I often run into are young white couples who are very happy to say they are a part of "bringing the neighborhood back", which is in many ways a very racist perspective. Do you think everyone who lives in said area wishes for home prices to rise?"

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Anyone else catch the assumption that our friend Frank made here? Notice anywhere in Everydaylife's post where s/he says s/he's white? What, do no blacks or Hispanics move to Cole seeking affordable housing? Do no blacks or Hispanics hope the neighborhood changes from its checkered, crime-ridden past, to a cleaner, safer place to live? Wow, sounds like Frank is stereotyping here... And what would it matter if s/he was white, black, or any other race? Does a certain ethnic background allow you to have an opinion about your neighborhood, while another forbids you to?

Racism anyone?

"Kettle, it's the pot--You're black." (Pun intended)

No, of course, if anyone doesn't think Cole/Whittier is just perfect just the way it is, they simply must be an evil white person--Oh, and their opinion doesn't count. You know, those dangerous, Starbucks-wielding Caucasians. No self-respecting minority or lower income resident could ever want an affordable grocery store, more commerce within walking distance, more trees and beautification, less violence, or a safer place for their kids to live and play.

I for one would guess that "Everydaylife" is suggesting that Cole/Whittier is "turning around" because crime is decreasing, homes are getting cleaned and fixed up, and in general the area is becoming a safer place for all (white, black, Hispanic, ALL) to live.

But Cole/Whittier still have a major way to go (as evidenced by recent shootings a block from my house)--But instead of thinking about gang violence, assaults, and murders, Frank is already busy lamenting the socio-economic "cleansing" and "forcing" of lower income residents "further out from the city core".

While we're here, I do feel it's my duty to mention the fact that I'm pretty sure this neighborhood was originally Eastern-European, and Asian (I can't find a link to support this assumption, but this is what I've been told--Original Cole residents were workers brought in to build and maintain the railroad). So Frank, while you're fretting over displacement, why not shed a few tears for all the Poles and Czechs that somehow got "displaced" by the blacks and Hispanics that live here now. I'm actually part Czech--Should I start telling every black person I see that I'm pissed that they "took over the neighborhood" from my people, like somebody told my wife the white people are doing today?

Frank goes on to say "Do you think that everyone living in said area wishes for home prices to rise?"
Whoah, slow down there, Chachi. No, but I sure hear a lot of my neighbors, that have lived here for years and years and years, telling me how the neighborhood has changed for the better: That there are fewer gang-bangers and drug dealers, fewer shootings, less violence, and that they feel that the neighborhood is improving--And that they're glad about it.

Know the only person that I know that has gotten "displaced" in my 4 years here? My neighbor, a Hispanic guy that grew up in the Curtis Park projects. But it wasn't the evil Starbucks crowd that displaced him--He told me he moved out because the neighborhood hadn't changed enough yet as he thought it had when he moved in two years ago with his wife and kids. Where did he move? The Suburbs... where he didn't have to worry about shootings, gangs, and drugs.

Perhaps "Frank in Denver" should stop generalizing about what whites think and do, what the poor think and do, and actually get out "in Denver" and actually talk to some people that live in the communities in question.

I think he likely would be surprised how happy residents are about the progress the neighborhood is making, into a safer, cleaner, yet still ethnically diverse area. And how most residents, regardless of economic status, feel there is a long way to go yet. So much so that the number one reason minorities are leaving, is to find a better place to live--Not gentrification or displacement.

Will you find some that are fearful of gentrification? Sure, you will. But these same people are already reaping the benefits of the improvement in the area, whether they've realized it or not. Oh, and the "new neighbors" (as some "old neighbors" call the newer white residents) are responsible for a lot of it: As the Hispanic resident I mentioned first in this post said at one meeting, "It's the white people that clean up the trash... that plant trees... and clean up the graffiti..."

With vacant housing abundant in Cole, crime still a regular occurrence, and folks leaving not because they're being forced out, but because they seek a cleaner, safer neighborhood, perhaps we can stop beating up on the white people about gentrification for a while.