Library Trends

Abstract:

Though the term “gentrification”—a process by which residents in impoverished neighborhoods are displaced and the built environment altered to suit the tastes of wealthier residents—was introduced in 1964, documentary evidence of this phenomenon is still lacking. The author suggests real estate flyers as an appropriate focus for research efforts. The materiality of these documents—paper, photography, and the architectural features they reflect—offers opportunities to expand on extant efforts to document as well as resist gentrification. Examples from the author’s collection of real estate flyers gathered in the neighborhoods of West Oakland, California, are provided. In conclusion, documentary tactics are suggested as a complementary approach to documentation strategy in attempts to capture the sociomaterial dimensions of gentrification.