Celebrating Local Histories and Defining Neighbourhood Communities: Place-making in a Gentrified Neighbourhood

Abstract

Processes of place-making in urban neighbourhoods include accounts of history that may vary among social groups of residents, especially in neighbourhoods that have witnessed decay and/or regeneration. This paper investigates the historical narratives of residents of a gentrified neighbourhood formerly known as a Little Italy in New Haven, Connecticut, US, as processes of place-making. It confronts these with histories of agents `absent' in the dominant narratives—here, poor Black residents. The paper addresses the consequences of the discursive dominance of certain narratives over others and discusses how such historical narratives affect place stratification and how the symbolic meanings of place strengthened through such accounts of history affect a neighbourhood's access to resources.

Narratives of neighbourhood change and loss of belonging in an urban garden village

“…Here, a group of residents who call themselves the 'real Villagers' express a strong attachment to the neighbourhood by sharing stories about the Village as an exceptional place with a particular working-class history (Blokland, 2009;small, 2002). In these narratives, the 'old' neighbourhood is framed as existing quite separately from the rest of the city and functioning as a self-sufficient social system, reflecting the original planning ideals behind the (urban) garden village and illustrating that belonging is 'often based on collective memories and shared symbolism of community' (Fenster, 2005, p. 253).…”

“…research has focused on the way in which middle-class residents engage with the neighbourhood discursively, by celebrating particular aspects of local history and identity that match their own social identities (Benson, 2014). Anglo-saxon studies in particular emphasize this 'symbolic' use of space over 'actual' use of space (Blokland, 2009(Blokland, , p. 1608. other studies show, however, that particular fragments of the urban middle class also engage with the neighbourhood in other ways, using a range of commercial spaces and public services, as well as public space (Andreotti, Le Galès, & Moreno-Fuentes, 2015;Boterman, 2012;karsten, 2014).…”

Neighbourhood Belonging, Social Class and Social Media—Providing Ladders to the Cloud

“…These neighbourhoods often have books lining the shelves in the local history section of public libraries written by long-established local history societies. They note local large houses, the history of parks and public places and the notable residents that have graced the streets of that neighbourhood, a historic narrative emphasising positive aspects of a neighbourhood (Blokland, 2009). The neighbourhood that is the subject of this research-Wester Hailes-has had one local history book written in this type of genre by a community activist (Sinclair, 1980).…”

“…These are the sorts of neighbourhoods that the affluent can choose to belong to and express their elective belonging (Savage, 2010a). These are often the sorts of histories and narratives incoming residents to gentrifying working-class inner-city neighbourhoods assert and deploy to create a place attachment disassociated from more negative stereotypes (Benson & Jackson, 2013;Blokland, 2009;May, 1996). These stories enable 'incomers to an area .…”

The making of ageing-in-place

“…A man living on the same island has the opposite experience; the island makes him feel as if he is in exile. In literature about safe neighbourhoods, Blokland stressed the importance of public places to stimulate 'public familiarity' among 'familiar strangers' (Blokland 2009). …”