A Changing World

Everyone belongs to some sort of community. Now, where, who, or how that community is up to the person, themselves. That community could be the people living around them, their school, or even within a group of friends that like doing the same thing. Each person helps to build the community they are involved in. For starters, let me define community. I know when you go online just to search the web, it will come up with a dictionary definition. However in this case, I am going to define community as a group of people who are able to communicate, are able to spend a good time, and are able to share similar beliefs with each other. Even though a community may have its boundaries, within that community a person needs to be able to feel a sense of friendship and support. One may think their community is the neighborhood they grew up in. I know I am a part of the ISGH community, even though it is 2 hours away, I would not say I am not a part of it. I will say that ISGH itself has changed overtime, when I first started going there to now, even though the building itself is the same, the people who come there have changed. Now, in a good or bad way depends on each persons view. A community changing is not abnormal, it occurs a lot even within society today. Even just looking at the communities around Baltimore, many of them have changed from what they first begun out to be.

Many communities in the US have been gentrified. I have read a few articles on both sides arguments, some saying how gentrification ruined their community, while others state it is a good thing. Like community, gentrification is similar, it depends on the person themselves. In my mind, making a community for the better, is never a bad thing, but to do it in such a way where you lose the original community is not a wise move. The article on Edmonson Village in Baltimore was devastating to read that an entire community of whites disappeared after blockbusting occurred in the area (Orser). If gentrification is doing exactly the same thing, where the original people living in that area, have to leave because they are worried it will change the area around them to much, it is not a good thing. People work day and night to build up the area they are living in. Just for someone to come and take it away is not a good thing. In that case scenario, I would disagree with the whole idea of gentrification. In the article, about the Station North Arts and Entertainment District, I liked their idea on the conference on gentrification and community (Reflections on Artists & Neighborhood Change 2013).

Station North had presented ideas to the communities gentrification. The reason I liked that is it eased the community in to grasp the idea of change and gentrification in their community. Also, they told the people how even though there may be change, the change will incorporate the feelings of the people living in the community. Station North seems to be the area where even though they are trying to change the community, they are not trying to give the people living in the area a sense of fear that they are losing what they spend their lives working for. It seems that it is going to keep the people living there satisfied, and also make the Arts Entertainment District better. The image below shows the Artscape Gallery from 2012 that was held in Station North, it is showing a sense of the community they have developed there.

(Photos-Station North Arts Entertainment District)

In the end of the semester, we are doing a project in the Station North Arts & Entertainment District. Since, I have not yet been in that district, I do not have any exact ideas on what would be a good project idea. So far I would say a good radio project idea would be to interview residents who have lived in the area for a long time and also recent residents to see the differences in their thoughts just by going down one block of the entertainment district or going down a few blocks. I really think interviewing old and recent residents and seeing how things changed in their times will really expand our knowledge on their thoughts and see their ideas of what their community really means to them.

References:

Orser, E. (1994, January 1). Blockbusting in Baltimore: The Edmonson Village Story. Retrieved February 2, 2015.

Photos - Station North Arts and Entertainment District. (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2015, from http://www.stationnorth.org/photos/artscape-2012/

Reflections on Artists & Neighborhood Change 2013. (2013, January 1). Retrieved February 2, 2015.