I think the overall response to my question as to whether or not gentrification could exist at the individual level is interesting. On one hand, we talked about it perhaps not being important to label, as ‘consciously or unconsciously’ someone is gentrifying. On the other, we built on previous questions raised by Lucia and others and featured in professor Greene’s work- that of vicarious citizenship.

Funnily enough, neither train of thought was quite what I was expecting when it came to responses to this question. In my mind, I was thinking about the possibility of a ‘gentrification tipping point’ whereby it becomes clear that a neighborhood is now gentrifying. In Silicon Valley it was more clear when this was taking place – wine, cheese, and all – than perhaps the beginning stages of a neighborhood undergoing change.

That said, it is interesting to consider how vicarious citizenship or the assumption of resistance identities can produce varying levels of visibility. When I consider my ’17 friends who moved to the city and are most definitely gentrifying, I think about how they’re living very differently to some of the people we see in Boyle Heights, or on the street corner of Boystown. Less visibility has stemmed from them being able to go to work, come home, and live their lives in a combination of ‘elsewheres’. They’re not opening art galleries or supporting avocado latte cafes, and they “take up space” in a much less spatial way.

I think, therefore, even though my question has been answered, it has also been made more complex – what does it mean when different groups of individuals have differing abilities to engage in urban change without protest. Sure, some will be both endowed by resource and visual, like our artists, and others will have no backing but still be seen as problematic. How do these dynamics intersect with the very real , statistical question of concentration – residential or institutional – and how can these combine to create a singular understanding of the degree to which an environment has been affected by change.