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Gentrification and Its Discontents1

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Abstract

Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood is definitely where it’s at. “Gus’s Café gives you a chance to show your DJ prowess at Open Turntables every Monday,” writes Chloe Detrick in NEXTpittsburgh, a publication that bills itself as the source of information about cool stuff in Pittsburgh. “On Wednesday, head over to Brillobox to test your knowledge at Pub Quiz night. If you like improv, keep an eye on Unplanned Comedy’s calendar.”2 Lawrenceville has a dog park and a place where you can launch your kayak into the Allegheny River, right under the 40th Street Bridge. On Butler Street, the neighborhood’s main drag, hip new stores and restaurants are supplanting the delis and hardware stores.

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References

  1. The phrase I have used in the title of this chapter, although not original, is simply too good not to use. “Gentrification and Its Discontents” is clearly derived from Freud & Strachey’s 1930 book Civilization and its Discontents, with a nod to Joseph Stiglitz’s 2003 volume Globalization and its Discontents; the first published work I have been able to find with this title is a piece by Benjamin Schwartz in the Atlantic Monthly in 2010. It has since been used by others, including Richard Campanella (writing about New Orleans) in 2013, and Richard Florida.

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© 2018 Alan Mallach

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Mallach, A. (2018). Gentrification and Its Discontents1. In: The Divided City. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-782-7_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-782-7_6

  • Publisher Name: Island Press, Washington, DC

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-61091-985-2

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