Gentrifiers, distinction, and social preservation: A case study in consumption on Mount Pleasant Street in Washington, DC

Andrew Riely

Urban Studies, 2020, vol. 57, issue 12, 2383-2401

Abstract: Mount Pleasant, a neighbourhood of Washington, DC that has experienced several decades of residential gentrification (Gale, 1980; Modan, 2007; Williams, 1988), nonetheless possesses a commercial corridor where local stores far outnumber boutique retail and corporate chain outlets. Its situation challenges a critical strain within the commercial gentrification literature that emphasises the likelihood of retail displacement during the gentrification process and characterises gentrifier consumers as primarily interested in retail outlets that are familiar or carefully designed to suit their taste. This study investigates gentrifiers’ consumption practices in Mount Pleasant to ascertain how they differ from those of peers in neighbourhoods where gentrification has followed a more typical trajectory. Using theories of distinction (Bourdieu, 1984) and social preservation (Brown-Saracino, 2009), I argue that many local gentrifiers, contradictorily, seek to accrue cultural capital by consuming ‘authentic’ local culture and products while paying attention to the costs of turnover and displacement.

Keywords: community; culture; distinction; gentrification; social preservation; urbanisation; 街区; 文化; 绅士化; ç¤¾ä¼šä¿ å­˜; 城市化; 区分 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098019830895 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:57:y:2020:i:12:p:2383-2401

DOI: 10.1177/0042098019830895

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Urban Studies from Urban Studies Journal Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().