Whole Foods Is the Lewis and Clark of Gentrification

The machinations behind the myth of Whole Foods as gentrifier at Pacific Standard magazine.

Theme: Geography of fear and migration.

Subject Article: "Hip-ification."

Other Links: 1. "Can You Tell an Up-and-Coming Neighborhood by Its ‘Emergent Energy’?"
2. "Brian Williams Mocks NYT Over-Coverage of Brooklyn."
3. "A Walker in the City."
4. "Movie Review: Mean Streets."
5. "Can the Whole Foods Effect Be Repeated?"
6."Talent Migration As Leading Indicator."
7. "Thomas J. Holmes on Wal-Mart's location strategy."
8. "Whole Foods targets low-income market in Chicago’s mean streets."
9. "Editorial: East Liberty advances / A long-distressed area continues to bounce back."
10. "Not Dead Yet: The Infill of Cleveland's Urban Core."
11. "The Brain Gain: The Rise of San Antonio’s Talent Economy."
12."Urban Islands of Poverty and Bowling With Strangers."

Postscript: Concerning migration and economic development, the focus is on negative factors that push people out or away. Conventional wisdom holds that if you fix those problems (i.e. uncool with a lack of talent, tolerance, and technology), then they will come. More importantly, the young and restless won't leave. More people stay than leave. Those who do move, only go a short distance. People are risk averse. For those who do roll the dice, they put up with a bunch of negative factors to make a go of it in Big City. Sure, high rents push plenty of people out of New York City. But it doesn't deter talent from coming. For those with ambition to burn, the Big Apple is on the map. Pittsburgh isn't.