Upscaling New York

Abstract

This book has examined how bars and nightlife scenes structure and influence life in downtown neighborhoods that have become, through advanced gentrification, upscale destinations for consumers and residents and prime locations for investment in high-end real estate and business. The proliferation of bars and growth of nightlife scenes underscore the importance of nostalgia for people in today's postindustrial city of constant, rapid destruction and ever-changing fashions. With upscaling comes conflict as well as ephemerality, as anchors of stability lose their strength to ground people amid their turbulent surroundings. Longtime residents of New York City use a nostalgia narrative of a dark period in their neighborhood's past to fuel their continuous protest despite the process's inexorable march towards an upscale status.