Library Source

Lee, Jennifer. “Retail Niche Domination Among African American, Jewish, and Korean Entrepreneurs.” American Behavioral Scientists 42.9 (1999) 1398-1416. Sage Online Journals. Google Scholar. Queens College Library., Queens, NY. 11 Mar 2008.

This article talks about how the same areas attract many different ethnicities which causes tensions between the business owners. However, even though there is tension it allows the area to have many different types of business which attracts more people. She also says that most immigrant new business owners tend to gravitate towards predominantly African-American Neighborhoods such as Jamaica, Queens. And the other then talks about how this affects African- American business owners.

Neighbor Interview

What is your name?
Lynne DiPanna
How long have you lived in the area?
Since college, so about twenty years now
What was the neighborhood like when you moved in?
Well in parts of Jamaica, the crime rate was definitely higher. But Jamaica Estates was still a very nice area to live in.
How has it changed?
There is still crime in the area but I think that the crime rate is starting to decline.
What are some new businesses in the area?
I’m not really sure, I think the Dunkin’ Donuts on Hillside is new but I’m not really aware of the new businesses
Have you seen a change in the economic status of the people in the neighborhood?
In Jamaica Estates no, but in Jamaica I think it has been declining for a while now
Are there a lot of children in this neighborhood?
Somewhat
Do you think this is a suitable neighborhood for raising a family?
No
What nationalities live in the area?

Well, it used to be just African-Americans but now you see Indians, Hispanics, and some Asians. So it is pretty mixed now

What type of people does this neighborhood attract?

All types of people, but in the shopping areas and places like that I would say mostly African-Americans.

Thesis Statement

Towards the end of the 60s the economic status of the people in the neighborhood began to change, which caused a decline in the economy of the neighborhood. Parts of Jamaica have become dilapidated because of the placement of unsuccessful businesses and a decline in the economic status of the people living there.

Chapter 15 Summary

In this chapter Jane Jacobs talks about slums in cities and the process of “unslumming” them. She believes that unslumming fails because it ignores the major problem by trying to find solutions to just little issues. She says that to be successful in unslumming you must look at the people living in the slum and instead of trying to solve the problem thinking of the slum’s inhabitant as incompetent you must give them respect. In the chapter Jacobs describes a perpetual slum which is a slum that people move in and out of very quickly. When people move out the slum too quickly it causes the slum to never move to a better status. Jacobs says that the first sign of a slum is a dull, boring neighborhood. If the neighborhood is dull it will not attract families or younger people because they are not desirable places to live and then the neighborhood will lack diversity. Jacobs main require to unslum a neighborhood is its ability to support a city’s diversity. And Jacob’s also believes that if a neighborhood has self- diversification then it will not be a slum.

Chapter 13 Summary

In this chapter Jane Jacobs talks about how diversity, if not properly maintained, can destroy cities. Jacobs uses the example of when there is an area that has many uses and the area becomes popular as a whole. In time one of the uses starts to become more profitable than the others. Eventually one or two uses become the most popular causing the other uses to be pushed out because of lack of revenue. This then causes there to be a lack of diversity. Jacobs also believes that this can also happen in residential areas. For example if a certain neighborhood becomes popular and everybody wants to live there builders start to build in this area in excessive amounts. Eventually families get crowded out eliminating diversity and variety. Also younger people who start to make more money leave the area as well, according to Jacobs. She also says that banks, insurance companies, and offices are the most aggressive destructor of diversity in cities.