How to Kill a City

By: Austin, John, Aiden

Even though Gentrification is good to newcomers, it can destroy an old resident's whole life

Peter is a man comig back from his job in another state. He played someone who tried to save the city. He is caring, smart, and empatheitc. He is the Protagonist of the book and attempts to stop Gentrification

Detroit, New Orleans, and countless other cities are hoping the spending power of millennials who can afford to live consumption-oriented lifestyles will provide the tax dollars that everyone relies on.” (page 41) Everyone is relying on just a few people and are really desperate for money and help against gentrification.

“In a column that came out just over a week after the storm, when people were still stuck in hotels or waiting for food in the Superdome, Brooks advocated for using the storm to leave the poor sections of New Orleans behind, and encourage rich people to move in their place.” (page 26) Brooks didn’t care about the starving people, he just wanted to make money.

Smith is somone who lives in the city. He is a friend of Peter who is strong, brave, and powerful. He played an antagonist and wanted to save the city from Gentrification

It takes place in New Orleans after a hurricane. We chose the image because it shows what happened in New Orleeans and how the Hurricane affected it. This boosted Gentrification in the city and the setting is important because it shows a great example of how these cities change.

“Its not the same city anymore,” Wayne told me over coffee at a cafe near a club he promotes downtown. “Its still vibrant. And its gonna come back. But I’m not gonna say better than it was, because I know people who couldn’t come back. The city’s going to have a somewhat new face.”(page 49) They know that they will be back together in the future, but they are all kinda bumbed and down.

"Gentrification brings money, new people, and renovated real estate to cities, but it also kills them. It takes away the affordability and diversity that are required for unique and challenging culture. It sanitizes. And because it is obvious to most that this is happening(even hyper gentrifiers in New York and New Orleans mourn the loss of culture in those cities), no one wants to be seen as a gentrifier. Who would want to be held accountable for helping kill a city?" (page 57) The quote shows that over time things change the culture in that area, religion everything they believe in and show are going to eventually be gone due to gentrification as more people come and settle in that area and accentally that is killing the city they built on there own beliefs, religion, and culture.

A man named Peter just returned home from his job at another state but finds that it has changed much. He sees that his home is different and many people have fled the town as heavy machines have occurred. The mayor has decided to start urbanizing the area rapidly, but it has started to backfire as it leaves many people homeless and can't support themselves with the money needed. Peter is very much against this and tries to stop the mayor from continuing, and also helps the people by bringing food and supplies. This leads to Peter going to 3 other cities that are also experiencing gentrification like New York and Detroit and tries to help them recover from it.