Food & Gentrification

Guest: Joshua Sbicca, Associate Professor of Sociology, Colorado State University If you want to know which rough neighborhood in a city is about to become the next hipster enclave, look where a new coffee shop opens up selling organic brews and smoothies. An upscale restaurant is bound to follow. And maybe a pop-up farmer’s market on the weekend. And before long you’ve got new condos and art spaces moving in, along with wealthier–and often whiter–residents. Why is a thriving food scene such a reliable precursor to gentrification?