Episode 116: The Pro-Gentrification Aspirationalism of HGTV's House-Flipping Shows

I think a lot of the gentrification narrative really misses the mark. You guys do a great job of detailing the negative impacts of gentrification, and I'm not saying there aren't negative impacts .. but I think if you look at a lot of the problems in the country today, a lot of them can be traced back to the fact that we've forgotten how to live WITH each other. One of the strongest indicators as to whether a child will be employed in adulthood is how many of their neighbors were employed, so shouldn't we WANT comparatively rich people to move into comparatively poorer neighborhoods? More importantly though, and you guys touch on this in your last episode, but the VAST majority of urban areas are not experiencing gentrification - instead they're facing divestment and decline. I think we in the bourgeoisie focus a lot on gentrification because it's the thing happening in the urban neighborhoods WE live in, but in reality it's not the biggest problem in our cities today. The biggest problems are in the neighborhoods facing divestment, depopulation, and decline. Focusing on the gentrifying neighborhoods happens at the cost of focusing on neighborhoods which have been getting poorer and more desperate for at least the last 50 years. None of this is to say I disliked the episode, or don't think you guys made some really strong points, I just think that gentrification really isn't what those of us who care about decreasing suffering in urban spaces should put too much of our energy into combating. I think we should work to ameliorate the negative side effects of gentrification (annoyingly referred to as "gentlefication"), but in general should look to "gentrify" more urban areas. You guys ask "what does "turning the corner" actually mean" .. well areas, post gentrification will have higher levels of public services, better infrastructure, better schools, homeowners will find it easier to maintain their house with access to HELOCs because their home's value isn't decreasing, etc. As long as we can find a way to help long term residents share in that prosperity, I think we should work to make that process play out in as many neighborhoods as possible.

Ryan Stempien

Right, which of course helps drive down "labor costs" (ie, your pay) as well.

Matt

How about the pricing on these shows? It always seems to be 'at cost' or something because I don't think you will find many contractors to do the work at the prices they list

Zach

EXCELLENT episode, guys. As a former construction worker, the part about who actually does the labor in all this really resonated. Also, we used to complain about how HGTV gave some nightmare clients pretty unrealistic expectations about how quickly the project would get done, and they'd make all these insane requests for changes at the last minute. So yeah! good stuff. Also from the gentrification angle.

Matt

Umm, actually, Adam, Cameron Poe was an Army Ranger, not a Marine. Do better.

Havo

I have a couple of problems with the episode. First off, Indianapolis is where I was born and spent the first 40 years of my life. You make this a truly black and white issue, but did you discuss the "white flight" from the downtown area to the South and North? `Did you discuss the condition of the heavily segregated nature of the city and how that impacts schools or public health? How this segregation impacts things like food deserts and property tax (that impacts school funding)? I get that total gentrification of areas are a bad thing that pushes people out. But that isn't the case in places like Fountain Square or on the Near East side of Indianapolis. Bringing more money into the these neighborhoods, pull up property values for the people that already own and live there. I mean capitalism sucks, but this show seemed to be pretty lopsided (at least from the POV of someone that lived and worked in Indianapolis).

Marti Abernathey

Thanks for another great season! Your full team is amazing :) But also, you should take a REAL summer break. A month doesn’t seem long enough haha

Sydney Shuster

To think that all this time, I've been paying a Patreon subscription like a fool, when I could have invested in a crackhouse! Have a great rest of the summer folks, and I look forward to season 4.

Ciaran Colley

17:48 Gonna be that guy... it wasn't Springfield being renovated, it was in a promo vid for an upstate company town called Cypress Creek (that Homer was invited to move to for a new job) where such mailbox-ification happened. (The Simpsons is one of the few TV shows I actually love and defend. I don't get to do this often.) Otherwise this episode is good eating for me as I have landlord problems myself rn, as I imagine most of us do. Abolish landlords and gentrification already. Top season guys, cheers ✌

Tom Kelly

Great episode! Now I guess ill just sit in silence till season 4....

Thank you guys,! Great season and finale Cheers

SamT

Awesome episode, only halfway throw but great points so far. Only issue: it’s Lou-uh-vull, not Louise-Ville

Potato

thank you!

oh HELL yes

David T Hollis

Lol that was fast, at least the medium linked work to get to SoundCloud.

Potato