Changing Spaces for Changing Faces: Gentrification, Food, and Class in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

• In Event: 40821 - Community and Urban Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 5. Gentrification I

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of Williamsburg, Brooklyn that examines how the social and spatial processes of gentrification transform the production of neighborhood food and food spaces. While substantive research has examined how gentrification transforms the social and physical landscape of urban spaces, limited research has looked at how gentrification changes neighborhood food spaces through the eyes of restaurant operators and residents. From a sociological perspective, the Williamsburg foodscape offers a unique opportunity to examine the intersection of food, class, and the social production of urban space.



Using grounded theory and mixed methods, this research focused on two central questions: first, given that we know gentrification and development transform the production of urban spaces, how has progressive development changed Williamsburg’s changing food landscape? To that end, I examined how gentrification and neighborhood upgrading have transformed Williamsburg food spaces, the look and feel of restaurants and supermarkets, and how this produces shifting class boundaries and distinctions in the changing vernacular landscape. Secondly, given that gentrification accelerates ongoing neighborhood change, how do Williamsburg residents and restaurant owners/operators perceive and experience the changing food landscape? To this end, I explored participant narratives to investigate how gentrification, food, and space intersect to produce symbolic and material markers that change how residents experience Williamsburg’s evolving food landscape within everyday urban life.

The findings revealed that Williamsburg’s changing food landscape has produced a contentious environment and a persistent sense of threatened displacement for restaurant owner/operators and residents alike. From dismay to appreciation, uncertainty, and nostalgia for the past, participants navigated conflicted feelings towards the changing food landscape that largely evolved into varied degrees of gentrification acceptance over time.

Author

• Kimberly M. Wong, Sussex County Community College