Paper : Six

Here's the preliminary outline

Calla Wright
Senior Seminar
Professor Joseph Heathcott
09 March 2009
PRELIMINARY OUTLINE
This paper will examine youths’ relationship with public space on the gentrifying Lower East Side. Beginning with a brief historic overview of the Lower East Side and a short literature review, (1) the role of gentrification in low-income communities and (2) the ability of youth to appropriate public space will be examined as individual issues. An analysis of my own personal research, which is comprised of a number of interviews with persons who grew up on the Lower East Side, will follow. Here, (1) the importance of community, (2) the importance of public space, (3) access to and restrictions to public space, and (4) the way youths’ relationships to community and space change over time will be examined. The paper will end with a conclusion about the role gentrification plays on youths’ ability to appropriate space on the Lower East Side. A brief section on recommendations for further research will also be included.

I. Introduction
A. Explain the project
1. Youth + Appropriation
2. Gentrification + L.E.S.
B. Methodology
1. Literature Review
2. Interviews
C. Limitations
1. Qualitative
2. Small Sample
3. Not Stratified Random
II. Historic Overview + Census Data
A. Brief History of L.E.S.
1. Immigrant community
2. Cycles of disinvestment/reinvestment
3. “Up and coming” neighborhood starting with the East Village
B. Actual statistics over recent years
1. Comparing most recent sets decennial census data
2. Comparing entries in city directories
III. Literature
A. Youth Access to Public Space
1. Already limited without the added problem of gentrification
2. Complicated social rules about who can be where
3. Societal norms about what is acceptable and unacceptable in public spaces
B. Gentrification
1. Breaking apart communities
2. Higher social class = more upscale establishments
3. Limited social interaction between gentrifiers and long-term residents
IV. My Own Studies
A. Importance of Community
1. What makes one feel connected?
a. Examples from interviews: parents grew up there, attend school there, work there, etc.
b. How does gentrification change these feelings?
2. What makes one feel disconnected?
a. With two interviews so far, I don’t yet know about this. But I assume someone will feel disconnected- if not, this section can easily be phased out.
b. Higher importance of public space when this is the case?
B. Importance of Public Space
1. Teenagers’ extensive use of
a. Places for meeting and talking
b. Places for “play fighting”
c. Places for sports and other games
2. Teenagers’ need for
a. Only time away from parents and school teachers
b. Can’t congregate in large numbers in parents’ homes
c. Can’t be themselves/ come into their own at school or work
C. Restrictions on Access
1. Restricting one’s self
a. Feel uncomfortable in places and why
b. Grey area (are youth restricting themselves or are others restricting?)
i. Presence of police officers
ii. Presence of other groups of youth
2. Restrictions put in place by others
a. Parental control
i. Restriction because of age
ii. Restrictions because of behavior
iii. Restrictions because of fear
b. Owners of stores, restaurants, etc.
D. Changes Over Time
1. Gentrification
a. Fewer places to congregate
b. Know less of neighbors
c. More expensive locations
2. Just getting older
a. Able to leave neighborhood more freely
b. Have part time job = more $$
c. Get board with hanging out in parks/streets
V. Conclusion + Further Research
A. I haven’t come to any conclusions yet
B. Further Research
1. More comprehensive study
a. Study L.E.S. by generations
b. Study L.E.S. by census tract (some have been much more gentrified than others)
2. Statistically accurate study
a. Random Sampling
b. Larger Sample


HAHA. It is so funny looking on here!! None of the spacing worked!!

This is Tabby and a kitty at a museum.