Last night, we attended a viewing of “Some Call It Home,” a documentary on the gentrification of Downtown Brooklyn. Like many cities in America, Brooklyn is rediscovering and redeveloping its downtown. Old buildings have been torn down and glass-covered towers have shot up, often at the expense of lower-income residents. While the economic downturn may decrease the city’s development budget, not to mention the demand for luxury housing, long-established communities are already affected by empty storefronts and increasing rents.
The next district slated for development is Fulton Street Mall, a collection of mostly locally-owned businesses. It may not look like much, [...]