"Green", "natural", or "organic" dry cleaning; if you live in TriBeCa or have visited an affluent neighborhood recently, you may have noticed this trend. Elizabeth A. Harris looks at the new sign that "your rent is about to rise."
"Dry cleaners in the United States first began to avoid traditional chemicals and embrace words like 'green,' 'natural' and 'organic' about 15 years ago, and they have since blanketed the affluent sections of Manhattan, from the Upper East Side down to TriBeCa," notes Harris. "In recent years, they have crept farther afield, up to Harlem and out to places like Greenpoint and Bushwick in Brooklyn, joining the head-to-tail butchers and the boutique bike shops as an unofficial marker of gentrification in New York."
“'We’ve gone way beyond organic food, and Starbucks is passé,' Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban policy and planning at New York University, said of two prototypical signposts that your rent is about to rise. 'Organic cleaners have become a barometer.'”
"And though a dry cleaner may be more environmentally friendly than his brethren, industry experts say that popular buzzwords like organic' and 'natural' do not tell you anything specific about what is going on your clothes."
“'It’s not coming from the ground,' Alan Spielvogel, the technical director of the National Cleaners Association, said of any alternative solvent that is described as natural. 'It’s a chemical.'”
FULL STORY: Eco-Friendly Dry Cleaners as a Barometer of Gentrification
Opening of Denver’s New Freeway Cap Park Triggers Gentrification Fears
Local residents fear rising housing costs and displacement with the opening of a new four-acre park built on a deck bridge over the newly reconstructed and widened I-70 interstate.
DC Park Aims for Equitable Development
Project leaders working on the 11th Street Bridge Park hope to prevent displacement of residents and bring economic and social benefits to the surrounding community.
Displacement Fears in Lahaina
Economists warn that reconstruction could put new housing out of reach for long-time residents.
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Google Maps Introduces New Transit, EV Features
It will now be easier to find electric car charging stations and transit options.
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Incentivizing Housing Production
A proposed bill would take a carrot approach to stimulating housing production through a grant program that would reward cities that implement pro-housing policies.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
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