I will be focusing on gentrification in Munjoy Hill and the adoption of Maine iconography, such as lobster buoys and Adirondack chairs, as an indicator of gentrification. In my mapping, I will be layering locations of such motifs on a specific path of Munjoy Hill with data provided from the city (http://click.portlandmaine.gov/gisportal/ and http://www.socialexplorer.com/) on median incomes, education levels, and median age. I will also compile data from Zillow on property value and rent. I hope to provide these layers of data over a twenty year span to show the process of gentrification since the ‘90s and to predict future trends of gentrification in the neighborhood.
My research will focus on cultural capital in Portland and the adoption of the working class lifestyle as a representation of elitism and gentrification. I will analyze property values on Zillow and compare properties in Munjoy Hill to those in other parts of the city and state to prove that “coastal property values and taxes have risen considerably (Gray 2005) and remain relatively high…. In 2004 median shorefront properties were $650,000 per unit (Colgan 2004), whereas Maine’s median residential home price was $174,000 (Maine Association of Realtors 2009).” 1 I will focus on literature by authors including, but not limited to, Loretta Lees, David Foster Wallace, and Pierre Bourdieu, as well as various class readings focused on gentrification.
Using data and personal accounts collected from my transect walk, ethnography, and mental maps, I will cite and analyze identifiers of gentrification and cultural capital in Munjoy Hill. I will reference the mental mapper who self-identified as a gentrifier to illustrate that “the boundaries of social and spatial exclusion are clearly visible to longtime residents, even if newcomers are sometimes oblivious of the geography of inequality that divides their neighborhood.” 2 I will contrast this woman’s map with the map of a blue collar worker that I also interviewed in order to provide an account of the varying socioeconomic diversity of Portland. I also hope to incorporate research about the lobster industry and the living standards of lobstermen and women, possibly through communication with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute or the Maine Lobsterman’s Association.
For my technological component, I will propose an app that marks and maps gentrification indicators, such as lobster iconography or Adirondack chairs, throughout the city. This app would rely on crowd sourcing and input by citizens, similar to data collection studies implemented in Seattle and New York. This app could also be combined with other class focuses, such as graffiti or public art, to indicate areas with or without wealth.
From my research, I will propose a form of rent stabilization in Portland based on rent regulation models in New York City. This proposal will help prevent rapid neighborhood turnover, enabling residents to stay in Munjoy Hill for a longer period of time. Ultimately, this will create a more socioeconomically diverse population that is more invested in their neighborhood. Rent stabilization could provide renters with more capital that could then be invested in the city in other ways, such as infrastructure or public space improvements. To capitalize on this capital, a higher tax could be added to benefit neighborhood improvements. By stabilizing rents and then increasing taxes, renters would not feel an economic burden, and their taxes could be invested in public improvements within their neighborhoods.
1 R.S. Steneck et al., “Creation of a Gilded Trap by the High Economic Value of the Maine Lobster Fishery” in Conservation Biology 25, no. 5 (Society for Conservation Biology, 2011): 908.
2 Catlin Cahill, “‘At Risk’? The Fed Up Honeys Re-present the Gentrification of the Lower East Side” in WSQ: Women’s Studies Quarterly 34, no. 1 & 2 (Catlin Cahill, 2006): 343.