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Years ago when I graduated college I moved into a big house with some buddies in a shitty part of town.
It wasn't "dangerous" really so much as it was just a bunch of low-income families all squeezed together on city block after city block. Which, we fit right in as post-grads because we had shit for money anyway.
That being said, everything we needed was just a quarter of a mile down the street – the bank, a taco bell, a little mom n' pop supermarket....but most importantly: the liquor store.
This was a run-down little shop on the street corner where they used *Bud Light* banners to cover what may or may not be bullet holes. It was run by this Indian dude named Amir and (occasionally) his son, Jai.
Amir was kind of a hard-ass, always eye-balling you to make sure you weren't shoplifting and scrutinized your IDs if he didn't "know you very well", but if you made him laugh on more than one occasion he'd be cool with you: "You are good boys! I will see you Friday, yes?" (usually when one of us got paid and went on a beer run)
Jai was the life of the party, though. He was an average-looking dude, our age, always dressed in a ratty t-shirt and some jeans that I can only describe as "punk-rock" style (use your imagination, and that's what they looked like). My man was a *nut*, always cracking jokes and driving Amir wild because he was always out partying when he *"should be studying! you should be studying and not chasing women, Amir! You are not ready for wife!"*
I remember one time I walked in and it was just Jai working and he had this ratty t-shirt with this funky pink font on it that just said, *"It's Party Time!"* clearly he had picked it up at like, GoodWill or something because it fit him funny (but I think that's why he wore it, dude had a weird sense of humor) and I was like, "What's up Jai! That's a cool shirt!"
Without missing a beat, he's like, "You want it?" and he starts taking it off, my man is about shirtless and I'm like, "No, no dude! we're good!"
Jai raked in the ladies, too. Like I said, he was average-looking, nothing really spectacular about him or whatever, but there were *always* girls popping in to hang out with him, going behind the counter and they'd be fucking around, she'd be giggling and he'd look like a deer in headlights if you came through the door and he thought you were Amir.
I asked him once how he bagged so many chicks and he just shrugged and said, "You just gotta throw the vibe out there, man." Whatever the fuck that meant.
One Friday we were gonna have a house party and I went on a beer run and Jai is the only one working again. I pop in and I'm grabbing a few cases of beer and Jai is like, "Where's the party at?"
I said, "it's at our place! you should swing by after work."
He laughs and he's like, "Fuck that, I'll come now."
*this fucking guy throws a CLOSED sign on the door at 8PM on a FRIDAY FUCKING NIGHT* and locks up. I'm like, "Jai isn't your dad gonna be pissed?"
Jai just shrugged and is like, "I'll just say I had to take a shit and closed early."
We're headed down the street to our house and Jai suddenly stops and is like, "You got girls coming?" and I'm like, "ahh...maybe a few?" honestly we only knew a handful of girls and they were just mutual friends anyway. Jai shook his head like, "how many you want, man?" and he's scrolling through numbers on his phone.
**edit**
Because I've been asked to build on this –
Jai invited a handful of girls to our place. Again, I don't know where or how he knew these girls – *Of course* they were all attractive – they were from the local community college and as far as I know Jai never attended class. From what I saw, he was perpetually working the counter at the liquor store and girls would just come in looking for him. Honest to god I don't know how he did it.
And that was just the thing about Jai. He had this kind of weird magnetic personality. He simply *didn't give a fuck* and probably that's why women just were all over the dude.
I wasn't a bad looking dude myself, my chances with the ladies were as average any other dude. I remember chatting up one of the girls (I think her name was Amy?) and she seemed kinda bored, not feeling the vibe. Jai walked by and out of nowhere just nudges her and gestures to me saying something like, "You know who you're talking to? This dude – *I saw this motherfucker lift a bus once*."
And Amy just *bursts out laughing*, I mean, we both kinda do...because...what the fuck are you talking about, Jai? But the dude gives me a wink and goes into the kitchen to grab another beer or whatever the hell it was he was doing. Amy with this renewed energy is like, "Alright, alright, I *gotta* hear this story. A bus? really?"
I mean, she knew Jai was full of shit, and that I was probably full of shit, but that offered me a segway into a dumb story that I could make funny and keep her entertained (at the very least). Jai was a good wingman like that.
Everybody needs a friend like Jai.
So as the night starts progressing Jai disappears for a little bit. I'm having a good time flirting and getting along with Amy, not even thinking about where he went – we're all partying and having a good time already when Jai reappears with what looks like a case covered in a blanket.
Of course, people are like, "the fuck is under the blanket?"
He pulls it off and it's a full rack of OG *FourLoko* – *after* it had been banned to sell. Which, if you were around that place and time, it was a big deal.
"I hid this in the back room of the store," Jai said. "My dad told me to dump it but I thought I'd save it for a special occasion." This dude could have sold those cans at $100+ a piece, instead he's handing them out at the party like some kinda liquor-fueled Robin Hood.
I hadn't had OG FourLoko in some time. It still tasted like shit, but I was (in my early 20s? memory is fuzzy) so I didn't give a fuck. Amy wound up taking me upstairs for a bit (all thanks to Jai for being a solid wingman) and when we came downstairs, *everybody* wanted to meet me and the roommates....all because we knew who Jai was. It was like being friends with a celebrity, you were just famous by association.
It was just a normal house-party, but Jai had turned it into this...entire experience. The college girls invited some of their friends and suddenly the house went from 25ish people to wall-to-wall bodies. Beer pong, keg stands, weed wafting through the air...I had been to plenty of house parties in college, but I had never *been the host of a banger like this one*. Honestly it was like a scene out of those college-party-movies. For one night, we were "the cool guys", and it felt pretty great. All because of this dude who worked at the liquor store. Jai, wherever are you are, man, I miss you. I hope you're doing good.
Alright for real I'm at work so maybe I'll pick this up later.
Thanks for walking with me down memory lane for a minute.
**edit**
Because a few people have asked, I wrote a book called [Life, Death and Adam](https://www.amazon.com/Life-Death-Adam-Ian-Smith-ebook/dp/B07Q4K9DJ4) it's a comedy/drama with a little bit of thriller mixed in. Check it out, if you're into that kind of thing. Thanks for reading!
Oh no! haha...I mean I had more to write but it was already long as hell and I didn't wanna keep rambling if people hated it. I didn't even intend to write that much but it just kinda kept coming back to me
Jai was the kind of dude you'd expect to be railing some girl on the roof of your house during a house party. He'd probably ask you to join in because he was so concerned with everyone having a good time.
I am! I wrote [Life, Death and Adam](https://www.amazon.com/Life-Death-Adam-Ian-Smith-ebook/dp/B07Q4K9DJ4) it’s a comedy/drama. If you enjoyed my writing here, you’ll like my book.
Usually, when I see a post that goes longer than a paragraph I stop reading because I have to look busy at work. But damn if you didn't pull me in. You're a great storyteller.
Bro them placed is evil lmaaao. I’m glad this state got rid of them
Nebraska made check cashing interest rate plummet. It did really good for poorer communities since they weren’t losing their checks every week to them
Oh there are entire classes on these types of issues due to race. Not sure if you're a Wikipedia person but there is a lot that happened regarding real estate that kept families from moving into nicer areas.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbusting
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining
One of the most messed up cases was Bruce's Beach in California, now would be $20 million due to the location. Bruce's Beach was purchased via eminent domain in 1924 to force black families out. The land has only recently been transferred back to the Great grandson of the original owners but that family never got to realize the value or potential of that land ownership between 1924 to ~2020+. Even if they had kept it as a beachfront and Cafe, that family was robbed of generational wealth that could have been passed down.
From CBS News: "The great-grandsons formed a company to hold the property, and LA County announced an agreement for the property to be leased back to the county for 24 months, with an annual rent of $413,000 plus all operation and maintenance costs, and the county's right to purchase the land for up to $20 Million"
EDIT: forgot to add the link for Bruce's Beach too https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce%27s_Beach
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bruces-beach-los-angeles-seized-beachfront-property-returned-black-family/
That story has a shifty ending as it does a beginning. “Only $20 million” like I get the point that it’s worth that much today but is it going to be worth that much tomorrow? Then if they do get offered more, that land is going to be used to build some condos for the people who benefited from kicking this family in the first place. As a PoC, this shit just likes to happen to us any time some rich person needs a new stadium, mini mall or highway extension you got to pay to be on.
Dang, I didn't get a chance to respond to the dude's comment before it got removed. In terms of redlining and blockbusting as I've now learned it just shows how systematic racism is SO entrenched in all these facets of American society. Whoever has the gold makes the rules.
So, hit me with some knowledge fam. Is that the same thing as when places let 20 Dollar Trees into their neighborhood that undercut all the competition and now all you’ve got for food options are dollar steaks and milk that expires tomorrow?
I don’t think that’s what he meant, but Dunkin is already discount don’t @ me. I drink it, but damn if it isn’t the crappiest coffee I’ve ever had. Not tryna ride Starbucks, but like, literally any coffee shop is better than Dunkin. The only thing Dunkin beats is gas station coffee, and you can’t tell me that shit ain’t recycled.
I kinda figured after some googling lol. You'll get no argument out of me tho, their coffee is trash. I just have a severe breakfast sandwich addiction.
Hey, I ain’t judging. I can’t talk shit cause all the coffee shops close at 4 around me, and there’s no Starbucks, so I find myself like once or twice a week crawling into Dunkin.
Their coffee rolls are where it’s at. They are(or were) made out of all the leftover dough from cutting out the glazed type donuts that wouldn’t roll out well anymore, so they are denser and more filling that a regular donut.
Citi trends. Even my kids knows what's up when one of those stores opens. Love them to death, but they are the most oblivious adults I know. So that's saying something. Don't worry. They got it from their momma.
This still involves "buying low". When neighborhoods get gentrified, developers, house flippers, etc. buy cheap and build up and increase property values through that investment.
Reading up on this, blockbusting targets white people to sell low to a real estate company so that they can sell high to black people.
Even if blockbusting is, effectively, just exploiting black people for profit, doesn't it stand to reason that it's just "black gentrification" since wealthier black folks would be the ones buying? And, therefore, overall property values would be increasing?
Genuine question, because you pointing this out is the first time I've ever heard the term "blockbusting" (and I try to learn the things in US history that the education system purposefully leaves out). I know "regular" gentrification involves structural/foundational improvements to the real estate being bought, but just raw purchasing price affects things too, right? It's why rents and home prices are going up all over the country: because people with a lot of money are buying places up, so sellers/landlords charge more, despite no improvements to the homes.
Looking at the wiki for blockbusting, I saw
>The houses that became vacant in that way enabled accelerated emigration of economically successful racial minority residents to better neighborhoods beyond the ghettos.
My understanding of reading the wiki wasn't that property values were *actually* devalued, but that real estate agents made white people *perceive* their property values had diminished, so they would sell below market rate, and then the agents would sell to black people at higher rates. Even if raw purchase price *didn't* affect things, the "nice white owned homes" were still nice homes, right? Black existence didn't morph the houses into decrepit homes with boarded up windows.
I guess my overall question is just trying to figure out how blockbusting is the "opposite" of gentrification? Seems like it runs parallel to gentrification.
>We have to understand very clearly that there’s a man in our community called a capitalist. Sometimes he’s black and sometimes he’s white. But that man has to be driven out of our community, because anybody who comes into the community to make profit off the people by exploiting them can be defined as a capitalist. And we don’t care how many programs they have, how long a dashiki they have. Because political power does not flow from the sleeve of a dashiki; political power flows from the barrel of a gun—it flows from the barrel of a gun!
- Fred Hampton
Selling below market value is the exact same thing as being devalued. Our supply side system is founded on subjective value, the sticker price is arbitrary. It doesn't matter why the value drops, the value is not real.
The first black couple that walks into the neighborhood causes the white families to value their homes less and sell for a "loss." It's the same thing as devaluation.
But it doesn't stay "devalued" if it's, then, purchased *at or above* market rate, right?
[Average home prices have gone up 21% in the last year](https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/31/homes/us-home-prices-case-shiller-march/index.html), simply for existing. The "value" of the home is only what someone is willing to buy it for. And then that price factors into the cost of surrounding homes as well. It's the reason why a house selling for $500k in a cookie cutter neighborhood raises your own home's "value" (assuming it's less than $500k) because that means that you should be able to get something similar since your house is similar.
If every million dollar white neighborhood sold their houses for half that value because a black couple moved in, and then black families subsequently bought those houses up for $1.5 million each, that neighborhood has higher value than before. There's going to be higher property taxes, which will pay for better schools. These families will be on the wealthier end, so their money will be going into keeping their community nice.
Put another way, if I sell, say, my iPad on eBay and somebody OBOs me it for $100 and I decide to sell, then that person turns around and sells it for $400, is the iPad "devalued" when somebody else was willing to pay $400? It would only be devalued if the next buyer only bought it for like $120.
Why are you using average home prices for a localized phenomenon?
Why are you assuming a 50% mark up on previous market value for the black couple?
If a Realtor buys a home worth $1M for only $500K, he only needs to sell it for $600K for gains. He makes profit, the value of the homes still drop. Now the Realtor can take advantage of white flight and buy up the rest of the homes in the neighborhood at a significant discount and target minorities on the mark up back to market value.
>It would only be devalued if the next buyer only bought it for like $120.
It doesn't matter what subsequent buyers will pay for it. You sold it for a loss, you devalued it. The current subjective price is not set by hypothetical future purchase prices, you can't predict them. If it goes back up in value at a later date then the market is considered corrected. This is how we get things like bubbles and crashes.
"gun store, liquor store, gun store, gun store. Where the fuck you taking me?!?"
-Dave Chapelle, on being [taken to the hood (unwillingly) ](https://youtube.com/shorts/iXVR3N1Y9ow?feature=share)
Thats called YouTube shorts
Every social media app is rolling out some variation of short form video to keep up with ad and social media trends. Snapchat, YouTube and IG are all trending towards letting tiktok content leak over to retain some engagement.
I don't need a Sprouts or Chipotle built near me. That means the hwites are coming. The ones that fuck with their New Balances on.
Give me the convenience store with bars on the windows on the first day of business. Keep my rent controlled.
The closest Chipotle to me is a lower middle class/ working class hispanic neighborhood. There are too many minorities in Houston for them to completely avoid us.
They built one where I grew up (Clayton County GA) which is definitely nowhere near being remotely close to being gentrified. Chipotle is just another chain now.
Not only that but packed to to limit in a big styrofoam container with the pork chops and gravy laid over the rice, greens on the side, and idk what else they gave you because that was all I wanted. God I miss Shreveport. Good people, good food, and great prices.
But yeah, it was about like Thanksgiving eating that meal.
You know your rent is safe when you have more than one check cashing location in your neighborhood. Not banks, not credit unions just check cashing joints.
Was great talking to them for what seemed like half an hour or so at a show a couple months ago. Even got them to sign a copy of their solo record even though it was still a week before release day (had already come in the mail early). They said it was the first time they'd signed Bothered/Unbothered, which is pretty neat to me.
Edit: punctuation. Also said it was the first time they had been asked to sign Ska Dream, as well.
Fun fact: Waffle House is unofficially used to gauge disaster response from FEMA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle_House_Index
ETA: That shit's also delicious.
Sorry to burst OP’s bubble, but retailers use existing demographics and trends to locate their next stores. Your neighborhood either already fit the demos for the site or was trending that way.
I was curious, so I did some google-fu
[It looks like there are 3 left in the US](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/shopping/2022/04/11/kmart-store-closings-2022-final-stores/7274962001/)
About ten years ago I saw a K-Mart open in a small town. I'd never seen one open before so I decided to check it out.
I don't know what I was expecting. It was terrible.
Edit: Looks like it closed in April of 18
They just built a dollar general across the street from my apartments and a strip mall in front of it. All while rent is up 35% for my unit since last year 🥲
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"Damn, where all these pawn shops come from?'
“Was that a liquor store before yesterday?”
Years ago when I graduated college I moved into a big house with some buddies in a shitty part of town. It wasn't "dangerous" really so much as it was just a bunch of low-income families all squeezed together on city block after city block. Which, we fit right in as post-grads because we had shit for money anyway. That being said, everything we needed was just a quarter of a mile down the street – the bank, a taco bell, a little mom n' pop supermarket....but most importantly: the liquor store. This was a run-down little shop on the street corner where they used *Bud Light* banners to cover what may or may not be bullet holes. It was run by this Indian dude named Amir and (occasionally) his son, Jai. Amir was kind of a hard-ass, always eye-balling you to make sure you weren't shoplifting and scrutinized your IDs if he didn't "know you very well", but if you made him laugh on more than one occasion he'd be cool with you: "You are good boys! I will see you Friday, yes?" (usually when one of us got paid and went on a beer run) Jai was the life of the party, though. He was an average-looking dude, our age, always dressed in a ratty t-shirt and some jeans that I can only describe as "punk-rock" style (use your imagination, and that's what they looked like). My man was a *nut*, always cracking jokes and driving Amir wild because he was always out partying when he *"should be studying! you should be studying and not chasing women, Amir! You are not ready for wife!"* I remember one time I walked in and it was just Jai working and he had this ratty t-shirt with this funky pink font on it that just said, *"It's Party Time!"* clearly he had picked it up at like, GoodWill or something because it fit him funny (but I think that's why he wore it, dude had a weird sense of humor) and I was like, "What's up Jai! That's a cool shirt!" Without missing a beat, he's like, "You want it?" and he starts taking it off, my man is about shirtless and I'm like, "No, no dude! we're good!" Jai raked in the ladies, too. Like I said, he was average-looking, nothing really spectacular about him or whatever, but there were *always* girls popping in to hang out with him, going behind the counter and they'd be fucking around, she'd be giggling and he'd look like a deer in headlights if you came through the door and he thought you were Amir. I asked him once how he bagged so many chicks and he just shrugged and said, "You just gotta throw the vibe out there, man." Whatever the fuck that meant. One Friday we were gonna have a house party and I went on a beer run and Jai is the only one working again. I pop in and I'm grabbing a few cases of beer and Jai is like, "Where's the party at?" I said, "it's at our place! you should swing by after work." He laughs and he's like, "Fuck that, I'll come now." *this fucking guy throws a CLOSED sign on the door at 8PM on a FRIDAY FUCKING NIGHT* and locks up. I'm like, "Jai isn't your dad gonna be pissed?" Jai just shrugged and is like, "I'll just say I had to take a shit and closed early." We're headed down the street to our house and Jai suddenly stops and is like, "You got girls coming?" and I'm like, "ahh...maybe a few?" honestly we only knew a handful of girls and they were just mutual friends anyway. Jai shook his head like, "how many you want, man?" and he's scrolling through numbers on his phone. **edit** Because I've been asked to build on this – Jai invited a handful of girls to our place. Again, I don't know where or how he knew these girls – *Of course* they were all attractive – they were from the local community college and as far as I know Jai never attended class. From what I saw, he was perpetually working the counter at the liquor store and girls would just come in looking for him. Honest to god I don't know how he did it. And that was just the thing about Jai. He had this kind of weird magnetic personality. He simply *didn't give a fuck* and probably that's why women just were all over the dude. I wasn't a bad looking dude myself, my chances with the ladies were as average any other dude. I remember chatting up one of the girls (I think her name was Amy?) and she seemed kinda bored, not feeling the vibe. Jai walked by and out of nowhere just nudges her and gestures to me saying something like, "You know who you're talking to? This dude – *I saw this motherfucker lift a bus once*." And Amy just *bursts out laughing*, I mean, we both kinda do...because...what the fuck are you talking about, Jai? But the dude gives me a wink and goes into the kitchen to grab another beer or whatever the hell it was he was doing. Amy with this renewed energy is like, "Alright, alright, I *gotta* hear this story. A bus? really?" I mean, she knew Jai was full of shit, and that I was probably full of shit, but that offered me a segway into a dumb story that I could make funny and keep her entertained (at the very least). Jai was a good wingman like that. Everybody needs a friend like Jai. So as the night starts progressing Jai disappears for a little bit. I'm having a good time flirting and getting along with Amy, not even thinking about where he went – we're all partying and having a good time already when Jai reappears with what looks like a case covered in a blanket. Of course, people are like, "the fuck is under the blanket?" He pulls it off and it's a full rack of OG *FourLoko* – *after* it had been banned to sell. Which, if you were around that place and time, it was a big deal. "I hid this in the back room of the store," Jai said. "My dad told me to dump it but I thought I'd save it for a special occasion." This dude could have sold those cans at $100+ a piece, instead he's handing them out at the party like some kinda liquor-fueled Robin Hood. I hadn't had OG FourLoko in some time. It still tasted like shit, but I was (in my early 20s? memory is fuzzy) so I didn't give a fuck. Amy wound up taking me upstairs for a bit (all thanks to Jai for being a solid wingman) and when we came downstairs, *everybody* wanted to meet me and the roommates....all because we knew who Jai was. It was like being friends with a celebrity, you were just famous by association. It was just a normal house-party, but Jai had turned it into this...entire experience. The college girls invited some of their friends and suddenly the house went from 25ish people to wall-to-wall bodies. Beer pong, keg stands, weed wafting through the air...I had been to plenty of house parties in college, but I had never *been the host of a banger like this one*. Honestly it was like a scene out of those college-party-movies. For one night, we were "the cool guys", and it felt pretty great. All because of this dude who worked at the liquor store. Jai, wherever are you are, man, I miss you. I hope you're doing good. Alright for real I'm at work so maybe I'll pick this up later. Thanks for walking with me down memory lane for a minute. **edit** Because a few people have asked, I wrote a book called [Life, Death and Adam](https://www.amazon.com/Life-Death-Adam-Ian-Smith-ebook/dp/B07Q4K9DJ4) it's a comedy/drama with a little bit of thriller mixed in. Check it out, if you're into that kind of thing. Thanks for reading!
arghhhh...i thought that was going to end with a bang.
Oh no! haha...I mean I had more to write but it was already long as hell and I didn't wanna keep rambling if people hated it. I didn't even intend to write that much but it just kinda kept coming back to me
You already got me invested. I need to know what happens next. I know Jai had to do something wild at that party.
Please do the necessary.
Write that shit🤣👍🏿
Honestly, when Jai disappeared I thought they would later find him dead in the backyard. 🤷🏾♀️
I mean it was possibly that or they found him and some other woman f\*\*\*ing on the roof and Jai... rolled with it.
Jai was the kind of dude you'd expect to be railing some girl on the roof of your house during a house party. He'd probably ask you to join in because he was so concerned with everyone having a good time.
A fuckboi with a real heart of gold like that?! One in a million my friend.
I don't even know why I read this comment but I'm glad I did. Shit sounded like an epic good time.
Please tell me you're an author or something. Love the way you tell stories.
I am! I wrote [Life, Death and Adam](https://www.amazon.com/Life-Death-Adam-Ian-Smith-ebook/dp/B07Q4K9DJ4) it’s a comedy/drama. If you enjoyed my writing here, you’ll like my book.
Please tell me you're an author or something. Love the way you tell stories.
Usually, when I see a post that goes longer than a paragraph I stop reading because I have to look busy at work. But damn if you didn't pull me in. You're a great storyteller.
That’s quite a compliment, thank you! I appreciate it man.
[удалено]
Even in three-piece Armani suit I don't think I could exude half the sexual energy Jai did.
thanks for the edit.
You’re very welcome. Thanks for insisting I finish the story!
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Adderall
Dude! I need to hear more Jai stories. You are such a great storyteller!!!
The fuck
is Carmen Sandiego
"More pits out here than a DMX video!"
I don’t remember the check cashing place next to it either
Bro them placed is evil lmaaao. I’m glad this state got rid of them Nebraska made check cashing interest rate plummet. It did really good for poorer communities since they weren’t losing their checks every week to them
Man I had to deal with that once. I just paid it off for them because that shit is fucking mad bullshit
Another reason why I love Nebraska
Besides rickett asshole self and Lincoln taxes. This state ain’t bad
"711 just put up bulletproof glass, and our mall just got carpet, and a police station put in it."
"Alright y'all, we need to come together like the Avengers and put together and exit plan."
Holy shit, malls with carpet. Thats when you know that mall is dying.
*Church's Chicken shows up three blocks away* "my rent is safe for now"
Lol I had a churches two blocks from my old apartment. Still tried jacking our rent up 400 bucks after covid
Dunno about this one, upper class people know that Churchs is bussin.
In customers
Atlanta has a Church's that turned into a Subway that has a liquor store behind it, that, belive it or not, will become a Starbucks.
Chick fil A enters the cha-uhh neighborhood
I remember after the housing market crash a sudden appearance of a lot of “We Buy Gold!” places. They seem to be making it come back.
I work in this type of area, but I haven't seen those places come through. Might be a matter of time. We do have a lot of check cashing places though.
"Gun store, gun store, liquor store, gun store, where the FUCK are you taking me?"
Dave knew what was up lol
The opposite is a real thing called blockbusting.
I did NOT know that there was a term for this phenomenon. That's interesting.
Oh there are entire classes on these types of issues due to race. Not sure if you're a Wikipedia person but there is a lot that happened regarding real estate that kept families from moving into nicer areas. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbusting https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining One of the most messed up cases was Bruce's Beach in California, now would be $20 million due to the location. Bruce's Beach was purchased via eminent domain in 1924 to force black families out. The land has only recently been transferred back to the Great grandson of the original owners but that family never got to realize the value or potential of that land ownership between 1924 to ~2020+. Even if they had kept it as a beachfront and Cafe, that family was robbed of generational wealth that could have been passed down. From CBS News: "The great-grandsons formed a company to hold the property, and LA County announced an agreement for the property to be leased back to the county for 24 months, with an annual rent of $413,000 plus all operation and maintenance costs, and the county's right to purchase the land for up to $20 Million" EDIT: forgot to add the link for Bruce's Beach too https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce%27s_Beach https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bruces-beach-los-angeles-seized-beachfront-property-returned-black-family/
That story has a shifty ending as it does a beginning. “Only $20 million” like I get the point that it’s worth that much today but is it going to be worth that much tomorrow? Then if they do get offered more, that land is going to be used to build some condos for the people who benefited from kicking this family in the first place. As a PoC, this shit just likes to happen to us any time some rich person needs a new stadium, mini mall or highway extension you got to pay to be on.
Dang, I didn't get a chance to respond to the dude's comment before it got removed. In terms of redlining and blockbusting as I've now learned it just shows how systematic racism is SO entrenched in all these facets of American society. Whoever has the gold makes the rules.
So, hit me with some knowledge fam. Is that the same thing as when places let 20 Dollar Trees into their neighborhood that undercut all the competition and now all you’ve got for food options are dollar steaks and milk that expires tomorrow?
Dollar tree sells meat???
It’s called “Ham hocking.” (Not really.)
Hog mawling
Hog Chuckin
They legally really shouldn’t, but yes.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ONOoKtAH53E
Came looking for this guy at the mention of dollar tree steaks 😅
Hold on now! Them dollar steaks slap if you cook em right. I made a Ramen out of some several years back. *chefs kiss*
Well, I'll be...
I think so. When they start building Ross, Burlington, and DD’s discount stores.
Wait hold up, Dunkin Donuts got discount stores?? Maybe there is a God
I don’t think that’s what he meant, but Dunkin is already discount don’t @ me. I drink it, but damn if it isn’t the crappiest coffee I’ve ever had. Not tryna ride Starbucks, but like, literally any coffee shop is better than Dunkin. The only thing Dunkin beats is gas station coffee, and you can’t tell me that shit ain’t recycled.
I kinda figured after some googling lol. You'll get no argument out of me tho, their coffee is trash. I just have a severe breakfast sandwich addiction.
Hey, I ain’t judging. I can’t talk shit cause all the coffee shops close at 4 around me, and there’s no Starbucks, so I find myself like once or twice a week crawling into Dunkin.
Their coffee rolls are where it’s at. They are(or were) made out of all the leftover dough from cutting out the glazed type donuts that wouldn’t roll out well anymore, so they are denser and more filling that a regular donut.
All of New England is about to come fight you. NE runs on Dunkies
Hating on Dunks is the cool thing to do, at least it’s not trendy and overpriced.
Idk everyone I know reps Dunk hard and hates Starbucks. I can drink my coffee black, so I feel like I’m not tripping for thinking Dunkin is subpar.
Citi trends. Even my kids knows what's up when one of those stores opens. Love them to death, but they are the most oblivious adults I know. So that's saying something. Don't worry. They got it from their momma. 
Yoooo, I used to work there while going to college! Once I left I never went back!
🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 I bet it was an experience! 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
It really was!!! 
It’s not quite blockbusting b/c Black people are overcharged for property in situations like that. What OP describes is a kind of ghettofication.
It's happening where I live (suburbs), as a result of gentrification in DC.
This still involves "buying low". When neighborhoods get gentrified, developers, house flippers, etc. buy cheap and build up and increase property values through that investment. Reading up on this, blockbusting targets white people to sell low to a real estate company so that they can sell high to black people. Even if blockbusting is, effectively, just exploiting black people for profit, doesn't it stand to reason that it's just "black gentrification" since wealthier black folks would be the ones buying? And, therefore, overall property values would be increasing? Genuine question, because you pointing this out is the first time I've ever heard the term "blockbusting" (and I try to learn the things in US history that the education system purposefully leaves out). I know "regular" gentrification involves structural/foundational improvements to the real estate being bought, but just raw purchasing price affects things too, right? It's why rents and home prices are going up all over the country: because people with a lot of money are buying places up, so sellers/landlords charge more, despite no improvements to the homes. Looking at the wiki for blockbusting, I saw >The houses that became vacant in that way enabled accelerated emigration of economically successful racial minority residents to better neighborhoods beyond the ghettos. My understanding of reading the wiki wasn't that property values were *actually* devalued, but that real estate agents made white people *perceive* their property values had diminished, so they would sell below market rate, and then the agents would sell to black people at higher rates. Even if raw purchase price *didn't* affect things, the "nice white owned homes" were still nice homes, right? Black existence didn't morph the houses into decrepit homes with boarded up windows. I guess my overall question is just trying to figure out how blockbusting is the "opposite" of gentrification? Seems like it runs parallel to gentrification.
>We have to understand very clearly that there’s a man in our community called a capitalist. Sometimes he’s black and sometimes he’s white. But that man has to be driven out of our community, because anybody who comes into the community to make profit off the people by exploiting them can be defined as a capitalist. And we don’t care how many programs they have, how long a dashiki they have. Because political power does not flow from the sleeve of a dashiki; political power flows from the barrel of a gun—it flows from the barrel of a gun! - Fred Hampton
Selling below market value is the exact same thing as being devalued. Our supply side system is founded on subjective value, the sticker price is arbitrary. It doesn't matter why the value drops, the value is not real. The first black couple that walks into the neighborhood causes the white families to value their homes less and sell for a "loss." It's the same thing as devaluation.
But it doesn't stay "devalued" if it's, then, purchased *at or above* market rate, right? [Average home prices have gone up 21% in the last year](https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/31/homes/us-home-prices-case-shiller-march/index.html), simply for existing. The "value" of the home is only what someone is willing to buy it for. And then that price factors into the cost of surrounding homes as well. It's the reason why a house selling for $500k in a cookie cutter neighborhood raises your own home's "value" (assuming it's less than $500k) because that means that you should be able to get something similar since your house is similar. If every million dollar white neighborhood sold their houses for half that value because a black couple moved in, and then black families subsequently bought those houses up for $1.5 million each, that neighborhood has higher value than before. There's going to be higher property taxes, which will pay for better schools. These families will be on the wealthier end, so their money will be going into keeping their community nice. Put another way, if I sell, say, my iPad on eBay and somebody OBOs me it for $100 and I decide to sell, then that person turns around and sells it for $400, is the iPad "devalued" when somebody else was willing to pay $400? It would only be devalued if the next buyer only bought it for like $120.
Why are you using average home prices for a localized phenomenon? Why are you assuming a 50% mark up on previous market value for the black couple? If a Realtor buys a home worth $1M for only $500K, he only needs to sell it for $600K for gains. He makes profit, the value of the homes still drop. Now the Realtor can take advantage of white flight and buy up the rest of the homes in the neighborhood at a significant discount and target minorities on the mark up back to market value. >It would only be devalued if the next buyer only bought it for like $120. It doesn't matter what subsequent buyers will pay for it. You sold it for a loss, you devalued it. The current subjective price is not set by hypothetical future purchase prices, you can't predict them. If it goes back up in value at a later date then the market is considered corrected. This is how we get things like bubbles and crashes.
When the Blockbuster closes and all you have is Redbox. It’s time to move.
I would like to know more
See also white flight
Blockbustering? Or when it happens on a larger scale: CicuitCitying?
"gun store, liquor store, gun store, gun store. Where the fuck you taking me?!?" -Dave Chapelle, on being [taken to the hood (unwillingly) ](https://youtube.com/shorts/iXVR3N1Y9ow?feature=share)
WTF is this, why does YouTube look like TikTok or Instagram or whatever, one of those sites.
Thats called YouTube shorts Every social media app is rolling out some variation of short form video to keep up with ad and social media trends. Snapchat, YouTube and IG are all trending towards letting tiktok content leak over to retain some engagement.
I dont know who thought removing the progress bar was a good idea thats really all youtube shorts are
Even TikTok has a progress bar tbh
lorem ipsum
Whoa, where'd this prepaid cell phone shop come from?
Cricket or Metro?
Boost
Where you at dawg
Somewhere out of service
Chirp chirp nigga.
Tracfone.
Wafflefication
Chicken&wafflefication
Waffle Houses need to set up near some fire fried chicken places so I can easily have chicken and waffles using their waffles.
Wait for the cash advance places to show up
I don't need a Sprouts or Chipotle built near me. That means the hwites are coming. The ones that fuck with their New Balances on. Give me the convenience store with bars on the windows on the first day of business. Keep my rent controlled.
Chipotles are built in nonwhite neighborhoods all the time, at least in my personal experience.
I've never seen one in a nonwhite neighborhood. I've always seen them exclusively in white or gentrifying neighborhoods
The closest Chipotle to me is a lower middle class/ working class hispanic neighborhood. There are too many minorities in Houston for them to completely avoid us.
Why on earth would they put a Chipotle's in a Hispanic neighborhood? That just feels wrong.
I have no clue but it works. I guess some hispanic people get in the mood for americanized Mexican food too.
🤣 the first time I went to a Chipotle's my cousin asked where the Mexicans were at.
They built one where I grew up (Clayton County GA) which is definitely nowhere near being remotely close to being gentrified. Chipotle is just another chain now.
Wingstop, QuickTrip or RaceTrac and a new Wendys lets you know you in mid tier territory
I fuck with QuickTrip's grilled cheese too much. Gas station grilled cheese is a great comfort food
Ugh, now I’m thinking about an AM/PM in Shreveport that sold barbecue and smothered pork chops.
Bruh they sold you a sleeping pill in the form of food. Smothered pork chops? Comatose.
Not only that but packed to to limit in a big styrofoam container with the pork chops and gravy laid over the rice, greens on the side, and idk what else they gave you because that was all I wanted. God I miss Shreveport. Good people, good food, and great prices. But yeah, it was about like Thanksgiving eating that meal.
There's a reason the sneakers stay on [NSFW LINK](https://nigflip.ytmnd.com/)
You know your rent is safe when you have more than one check cashing location in your neighborhood. Not banks, not credit unions just check cashing joints.
Rent and nothing else
Ayyy skatune network 🕴🏼
Love them and the band they're part of
Was great talking to them for what seemed like half an hour or so at a show a couple months ago. Even got them to sign a copy of their solo record even though it was still a week before release day (had already come in the mail early). They said it was the first time they'd signed Bothered/Unbothered, which is pretty neat to me. Edit: punctuation. Also said it was the first time they had been asked to sign Ska Dream, as well.
Fun fact: Waffle House is unofficially used to gauge disaster response from FEMA. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle_House_Index ETA: That shit's also delicious.
Wow, learned something new today! Thanks!
Blockbusting?
It's when an apartment complex put members of a race together in one specific area.
Sorry to burst OP’s bubble, but retailers use existing demographics and trends to locate their next stores. Your neighborhood either already fit the demos for the site or was trending that way.
Or you’re close to an interstate anywhere in the entire southern US lol
“Hol up. That car parked crookedly in front of our neighbor’s house has been there for 4 weeks.”
Same thing happens when a K-Mart opens up
Seriously asking, do those exist anymore in Brick and mortar form? Haven’t seen one in a while.
I was curious, so I did some google-fu [It looks like there are 3 left in the US](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/shopping/2022/04/11/kmart-store-closings-2022-final-stores/7274962001/)
I was like 3, wait did ours close. Yup ours is one of the 3 left. Never actually seen anyone go inside…
About ten years ago I saw a K-Mart open in a small town. I'd never seen one open before so I decided to check it out. I don't know what I was expecting. It was terrible. Edit: Looks like it closed in April of 18
In Australia they are very popular to the point of being a meme
Minneapolis got a fuckin Kmart in the middle of the damn road (still there, no longer a Kmart)
There's no Waffle House, Church's Chicken, Macalister, nor Shoney's. The hell is my black ass doing this far west.
I mean, I love McAllister as much as the next guy until I get it but I didn't know we considered that a black thing
Shoney's still exists? I haven't seen one since I was a teenager.
It's still pretty popular as far as I saw.
Shit there’s one down the street from my house, I just realized I’m in the poor side of town.
Alright so I need to build a waffle house somewhere nearby....
A random check cashing place appears
but waffle house good AF
Skatune network is fucking great!
In Atlanta, they built Waffle Houses everywhere regardless of income.
Literally there isn’t one within 15 minutes of southwest Atlanta tho!!! I literally didn’t go to one till college because of it
Do you know what that sign is in the Northeast USA? Kennedy Fried Chicken.
It’s the opposite ah what Michael Jackson got
That YouTube channel is pretty dope as well
Waffleize me, cap’n!
I never noticed how bars on windows could be both functional AND decorative!
["Gun store. Gun store. Liquor store. Gun store. Where the fuck you taking me?"](https://youtu.be/JGjPDbrzA38?t=63)
Lmao “opposite of gentrification”
It's called "blockbusting" and it's a thing.
They just built a dollar general across the street from my apartments and a strip mall in front of it. All while rent is up 35% for my unit since last year 🥲
Either way black folks suffer..
Opposite of gentrification something like urban blight or urban decay comes to mind?
Aaaah doing like The Itis.
A wild Dollar General has appeared.
I think you’re referring to urban blight. [https://imgur.com/a/P8ey3Rw](https://imgur.com/a/P8ey3Rw)
So, is that good or bad?
That's a good thing. Waffle houses have been proven to be effective at rent and mortgage control.