Non-gentrified
In photo 1, you can see a typical commercial street in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. The businesses occupying the ground floor of the buildings have been in these locations for years. The signage conveys that these are established shops in the neighborhood. There is a common use of colors to connote ethnicity; the pastry shop, for example, uses red, green and white to suggest an Italian-American origin.
Photo 1
The facade of this shoe repair shop (photo 2) looks similar to the pastry shop seen above. The sign is decades old and the windows are covered with paper and signs. Next door, the barber shop gives a similar impression. As does the next shop. These businesses are relying on familiarity to bring customers.
Photo 2
The Carroll Gardens Wines & Liquors, show in photo 3, has the typical undecorated storefront and old sign above the awning. The display windows are filled with products; their purpose is to illustrate the nature of the business rather than inviting the viewer to look inside or to convey the atmosphere of the place—its ambience. The sign uses the familiar red, green and white colors.
Photo 3
Gentrified
The facade of this bakery on Court Street is very different from the shop to the left. It is new, and done in a more modern style, with tall thin windows and bright red paint. The sign is new and different from the painted rectangular signs of the older businesses. The storefront is designed to catch the attention of the traffic on the street and sidwalk. It connotes an upscale service rather than an neighborhood shop.
Photo 4
The name of the business in photo 5 is an indicator of more than the type of product to be found there. "Fish Tales" is a pun and it connotes the kind of whimsy that is often associated with gentrifying businesses. The facade is contemporary and the windows are designed to convey the ambience of the place rather than display the proprietor's wares.
Photo 5
Photo 6 shows the kind of upscale shopping that is commonplace in gentrified areas.
Photo 6
Photographs by Professor Jerome Krase. All content on this site is copyright © 2003 by Prof. Timothy Shortell, except where copyright is retained by the original owners. No infringement of rights is meant or implied. This page is U.S. Section 508 accessible.