Latest news with #gentrification
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
OK Boomer, what a 1980s house really costs buyers today
Hopeful Geelong home buyers are paying substantially more money relative to the cost of everything else than generations before them, alarming new analysis reveals. The exclusive PropTrack research showed home prices were four-times higher than in 1980 once adjusted for inflation. But today's buyers are paying between two and eight-times on top of the adjusted prices for a typical house in many suburbs. The research measured housing costs across each decade, showing property prices over the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s were also markedly cheaper when compared to other living costs. Geelong's $26,500 median house price in 1980 is equivalent to $136,100 in today's money, while the $470,000 median in 2000 is worth $682,400 in today's dollars. But that's well short of the actual $890,000 median house price in 2025. The study also showed the dramatic shift in Geelong's property market map, particularly as a result of gentrification. Geelong West was the cheapest suburb back in 1980 when a typical house cost $23,075, cheaper than the average house in Norlane at the time. In today's money that's just $118,000. The actual median price in the suburb is more than six-times higher at $872,000. Inner suburbs such as Geelong, East Geelong and Manifold Heights had median house prices less than $30,000 in 1980. A typical house cost $34,000 in Newtown in 1980 ($177,200 in today's money) compared to $1.117m today, while Highton was the most expensive suburb with a $48,000 median house price. That's $338,900 when adjusted for inflation, but is now worth $875,000. Geelong buyers advocate Tony Slack said how typical buyers were entering the market today were different as the cost of housing increased compared to incomes. 'If you're single or a couple and you're renting, it does it make hard to crack in to the market,' he said. 'Without a doubt that there's more family money there,' he said. 'And government schemes are the same thing – they weren't available when I bought the first time. 'I think the cost of living in the old days, there just seemed to be more money left over.' Mr Slack said buyers were less prepared to buy a house that needed to improvements, but worked within a budget that favours lifestyle attributes, such as being close to a network of friends, family, work and social activities. He said buyers often purchased their first home as a stepping stone, considering other factors such as schools with their second purchase. 'That worst house in the best street doesn't seem to have as much bearing as it used to,' he said. The study laid bare the widening generational wealth gap, with long-term home owners sitting on huge capital gains, while today's first-time buyers are confronted with higher deposits, debt burdens. PropTrack senior economist Angus Moore said the rapid growth in home prices since the early 1990s was linked to lower interest rates during that time. The Reserve Bank of Australia this month cut 25 basis points from the official cash rate, now at 3.85 per cent compared to a high of 17 per cent in 1990. Lower interest rates reduce the cost of borrowing, allowing buyers to afford larger loans, which can drive up property prices. But the boost in borrowing power does not offset the growing cost of saving for a deposit. 'The deposit hurdle is just unequivocally harder than it was four or five decades ago, and that has manifested in home ownership rates which have fallen over those years,' Mr Moore said. WHAT A 1980s house really costs today Suburb Property type 1980 median price In today's money Actual 2025 median price Anglesea H $35,000 $179,700 $1,410,000 Barwon Heads H $28,450 $146,100 $1,425,000 Bell Park H $30,000 $154,100 $630,000 Bell Post Hill H $37,000 $190,000 $660,000 Belmont H $34,000 $174,600 $705,000 Clifton Springs H $35,500 $182,300 $652,600 Corio H $29,000 $148,900 $490,000 East Geelong H $26,000 $133,500 $772,500 Geelong H $26,500 $136,100 $890,000 Geelong West H $23,075 $118,500 $872,500 Grovedale H $41,000 $210,500 $669,800 Hamlyn Heights H $32,500 $166,900 $717,500 Herne Hill H $31,000 $159,200 $700,000 Highton H $48,125 $247,100 $875,000 Jan Juc H $30,000 $154,100 $1,250,000 Lara H $35,825 $184,000 $680,200 Leopold H $42,000 $215,700 $657,500 Lorne H $40,000 $205,400 $1,678,000 Manifold Heights H $29,250 $150,200 $1,121,200 Newcomb H $28,750 $147,600 $551,000 Newtown H $34,500 $177,200 $1,117,500 Norlane H $23,500 $120,700 $453,500 North Geelong H $24,325 $124,900 $620,000 Ocean Grove H $35,900 $184,300 $972,500 Point Lonsdale H $39,500 $202,800 $1,200,000 Portarlington H $31,125 $159,800 $848,800 St Leonards H $27,750 $142,500 $720,000 Thomson H $27,500 $141,200 $512,500 Torquay H $31,500 $161,800 $1,185,000 Belmont U $30,250 $155,300 $548,000 Highton U $35,000 $179,700 $520,000 Newtown U $31,750 $163,000 $620,000
The Sun
3 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Fury as famous pub is being turned into Gail's bakery just a year after sudden closure and petition to stop chain
ANOTHER Gail's set to open in replacement of a famous pub has left locals devastated. The former site of the Hackney Tap in east London is revealed to be turning into a Gail's bakery. 2 2 It comes after the popular pub in Hackney suddenly shut down in July 2024 without explanation. The site where the pub was located has remained empty for the past year. However, Gail's posters have been spotted around the windows of the building which state: "We'll be baking here soon." This follows planning permissions that was requested a few months after the pub closed, with hopes to turn the Grade II-listed building into a food and drink hub. However, local residents and pubgoers have hit back at the update of the site becoming a Gail's. On a Hackney Reddit thread, a user shared how they were "sad to see the local pub replaced by Gail's." Another X user in response to a post about the news wrote: "If I'm not mistaken that would be the third one in Hackney. "Gentrification in progress?" There has been significant concern around the loss of independent businesses on high streets which are being replaced by chains. It even led to a petition by east Londoners to "Prevent Gail's from Establishing a Store on Our High Street." The petition, which has accumulated over 1,800 signatures, states Walthamstow Village has been a "vibrant local neighbourhood in for its collection of local, independent and family-run businesses." The expansion of chains like Gail's into communities is therefore perceived to threaten the "uniqueness" of high streets and "bring a risk of overshadowing our much-loved local stores due to their massive scale and advertising reach." In response to the public dismay, a Gail's spokesperson said: "Gail's is excited to confirm it is opening a new bakery in Hackney this summer. "The opening will bring Gail's craft baking to the community, including creating a number of craft baking, barista, and management roles. "We will also be donating surplus baked goods through our Neighbourly partnership, which will be distributing produce to six local charities and a school in the area. "This is part of our ongoing commitment to giving back to the communities we serve and improving access to quality food and drink on the high-street. They added: "Gail's has worked with long-term design partners Cavendish Studios to celebrate many of the Grade II listed building's original features like its large arched windows, high ceilings and wood cladded panelling with thoughtful design details."
New York Times
5 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
High-Demand Section of Brooklyn Will Be Redesigned, Adding 4,600 Homes
The New York City Council on Wednesday approved a major plan to open 21 blocks in central Brooklyn to new development, a transformation that aims to address the city's worsening housing crisis by making way for some 4,600 new apartments. The plan targets a part of Atlantic Avenue in Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant where decades-old city regulations have become an emblem of New York City's challenges in building new housing. Areas zoned for manufacturing as far back as 1961 left little room for residential development as neighborhood needs shifted, leaving the area pockmarked by vacant lots, warehouses and auto shops that could not be repurposed as housing. Because the neighborhoods are close to Prospect Park and many subway lines, they've continued to draw residents, pushing rents up and fueling gentrification. Several one-off, luxury apartment buildings have sprouted in between industrial and manufacturing lots, a haphazard upheaval that has angered local leaders. The City Council's approval addresses several of the issues, and reflects how city officials are, at least in piecemeal fashion, making way for growth in the face of a housing shortage that is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of homes. 'There's definitely been a culture shift in the last couple of years around housing,' said Councilwoman Crystal Hudson, who represents much of the area and who helped lead the plan's development. 'I think people understand a little bit better the reality of market pressures, and the housing and affordability crisis that is crunching everyday New Yorkers.' She said she hoped the plan, known as the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan, would be a blueprint for other neighborhoods. Roughly 1,000 of the 4,600 new homes will be made affordable to people of lower incomes. They will rent, on average, for $1,747 for a one-bedroom apartment or $2,097 for a two-bedroom apartment, according to the most recent city figures. In addition, the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development plans to help build 900 more units that will be even more affordable on sites owned by nonprofit groups and by the city and state. And while housing is an important focus, civic leaders have long been clamoring for the city to make broader neighborhood improvements. City officials said they would spend $135 million to redesign Atlantic Avenue, including improving visibility at intersections and adding a bike lane. The city aims to spend another $100 million on improvements to schoolyards, playgrounds and parks. And it will invest in job training programs for local residents. These additions were crucial to winning community support, Ms. Hudson said. 'You have to actually make people's living conditions better,' she said. Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement on Wednesday that the plan's approval was a 'major milestone in our mission to build a more affordable, vibrant New York City.' The Adams administration has pushed development citywide. Last year, city officials passed a broader development plan known as City of Yes, which would make way for 80,000 additional homes over the next decade. The administration is separately moving to rezone parts of Midtown, Long Island City and Jamaica, Queens.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
GAIL's bakery wins Deliveroo's top community champion award - amid 'gentrification' row and furious boycotts from hipster residents
GAIL's Bakery has won a prestigious award for its commitment to community engagement by a huge restaurant platform - as residents in trendy neighbourhoods are left up in arms over the stores opening in their areas. The upmarket bakery chain has been awarded Deliveroo's Heart of the Community gong in the Restaurant of the Year awards, celebrating its commitment to quality and community engagement. It comes as the upmarket bakery chain's rapid expansion has sparked boycotts and petitions throughout the UK, with many locals expressing concerns about the impact on independent businesses and the character of their communities. In November last year, GAIL's announced it would be opening a new branch in Primrose Hill and locals quickly defaced the shops hoardings with graffiti which said 'Fail's – Go Away'. Meanwhile residents of Walthamstow Village fumed when they found out the chain was opening on their high street in 2024. Locals claimed the branch was the 'ultimate sign of gentrification' and will see independent coffee shops lose trade. It led to hundreds of people signing a petition against the opening after the chain announced plans to open 35 new UK sites. Last year, the Heart of the Community accolade went to a local family-run cafe in Rushden, Northamptonshire, Happy Mondays. The judges, who included notable food critic Jimi Famurewa, were inspired by the cafe's community-first ethos, which included supporting local suppliers to serving fresh, locally sourced food and products, as well as fundraising for local charities and hosting markets and events for Rushden residents to enjoy. The independent café pipped Gail's to the post in 2024 and also fended off competition from Wingstop, GAIL's Bakery, and Zambrero Ireland. The Deliveroo Restaurant Awards' mission is to celebrate the best and most loved independent restaurants across the UK and Ireland. The website explained the reasoning behind awarding GAIL's the accolade this year. It read: 'GAIL's has supported local charities since it first originated, equating to over 99 charities in the past 18 years, namely through their partnership with Neighbourly, donating surplus food to over 400 local charities and organisations in their communities. 'This partnership goes back to what GAIL's is – a modern neighbourhood craft bakery, integrated into communities.' Despite the recent backlash, GAIL's continues to thrive, with plans to open additional branches in various locations. In the year to February 2024, it achieved a turnover of £232 million, up from £182 million the previous year, according to the most recent accounts it has filed at Companies House. Known for its artisanal pastries and upscale clientele, the bakery has even become synonymous with the so-called 'GAIL's effect' — the idea that a new branch signals rising house prices and accelerating gentrification in the area. This theory is backed up by Brandling-Harris, who owns the House Collective estate agency, and who has lived in Primrose Hill for 15 years. Speaking to Mail Online he said: 'GAIL's is good for the area, it's a community hub. It is really consistent – good sandwiches, good coffee. And, importantly, it has filled a void. This was an empty site before.' Many local residents, however, would have preferred to see an independent business open, rather than another outlet from a rapidly expanding chain. Primrose Hill critic, Cuitlahuac Turrent, told the Mail Online: 'It could destroy local neighbourhood bakeries with its bland, soulless food and atmosphere.' Another resident, Martha Swift, who owns Primrose Bakery which opened 20 years ago said: 'There are just so many GAIL's. There are five others within walking distance. She added: 'It is really tough to run an independent business on the high street at the moment – the cost of ingredients has gone through the roof, it's a nightmare. Then there's the price of electricity, plus the cost of business rates. You just can't pass on these costs to customers.' 'A chain like GAIL's can afford to lose money, whereas if you are an independent business you have to make a living.' This concern was so accurate that when GAIL's moved into Walthamstow last year, a petition garnered 1,800 signatures. 'It's about choosing inclusive growth, preserving diversity and creating equitable and sustainable local economies,' the petition claimed. Locals in the East London enclave spoke to MailOnline about their concerns as some fought to stop the upmarket bakery opening. Some business owners claimed local resistance was down to the firm's pro-Brexit and anti-lockdown chairman Luke Johnson, who called some eco activists 'alarmists'. There is an apparent feeling that Mr Johnson does not align with the politics of the area, which backed Remain in 2016 and has had a Labour MP for more than 30 years. Residents also feared GAIL's could put independents out of business, while others claimed that the plans were 'not great for coolness factor' and the chain was 'probably out of reach price-rise for a lot of the community'. Others pointed out that while they liked GAIL's and had visited other branches, they did not agree with it coming to Walthamstow and would instead support local firms. Resident Fanie, 30, painter, said: 'Gail's coming in, it's not great. The Gail-sification of London. That's why I don't want to live in Wanstead, I don't want to live in Leyton, I want to live somewhere with cool and interesting stuff - not stale pain au chocolate. Sorry, Gail's.' Misha, 35, human resources worker, said: ''I quite enjoy that there are local coffee shops here. I like Gail's, I would go there if it was here, but I do try and shop local if I can.' Dawn, 50, local resident, added: 'I think any new business in the area is great, but I think the concentration just on the village is disproportionate to the rest of Walthamstow. 'The gentrification of the area is fantastic, but I think it needs to be spread out and some of these bigger chains need to come and revive the high street and not just concentrate on the most affluent areas of the borough.' Meanwhile Gail's was also met with a new backlash for the same reason in Bath recently. Chief executive Tom Molnar has slammed claims the chain is ruining high streets, as they spread at a rate of a new shop every fortnight. Mr Molnar has insisted that he only ever wanted to give the customers choice. 'We build small sites so they are a part of a diverse high street, so whenever I build a Gail's I think what it would be like if I was a resident here,' he told The Times. 'I'd encourage people to look at what we're trying to do, rather than taglines. There's good independents and bad, and good chains and bad chains.' Gail's Bakery started as a single store in Hampstead, north London, and slowly began to spread across the capital before cherry picking new towns and cities to set up in. The chain now has more than 130 shops across Britain already and is seen by many as the successor to Waitrose, with plans now in place for new sites to be opened across Britain. Mail Online have reached out to Gail's Bakery and the Deliveroo Restaurants of the Year Awards for comment.
The Guardian
25-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Casualties in Trump's war on the arts: the small museums keeping local history alive
For the past two years, a small arts non-profit has been telling stories about the communities living alongside the Los Angeles river, one voice at a time. The organization, called Clockshop, has collected the oral histories of nearly 70 local residents, activists and elected officials. Their knowledge is compiled in a vast cultural atlas – which contains videos, an interactive map and a self-guided tour exploring the waterway and its transformation from a home for the Indigenous Tongva people to a popular, rapidly gentrifying urban space. But in April, the future of the ever-growing atlas was thrown in uncertainty, when a three-year federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the agency that supports libraries, archives and museums, was terminated 17 months early. The grant, originally for $150,000, still had $20,000 left to pay out. 'There is no recourse to recover the funds still in the grant project activities,' the organization said in a post on Instagram. Now, executive director Sue Bell Yank says their mission to preserve the stories of residents ousted by gentrification could lead to 'erasure of the past, of cultural self-determination, and a lack of understanding about how communities can successfully advocate for the kinds of neighborhoods we deserve'. Clockshop's post foreshadowed an alarming message that would eventually be delivered to hundreds of other arts and cultural institutions across the US. As the Trump administration directed federal agencies to cancel grants that did not support the president's new priorities, which focused on funding 'projects that reflect the nation's rich artistic heritage and creativity' and targeted anything broadly deemed 'DEI' (diversity, equity and inclusion), millions of dollars dedicated to preserving local history and culture suddenly disappeared. Shortly after IMLS grants were terminated, so too were those awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). By Friday 2 May, a spreadsheet created by writer and theater director Annie Doren was being passed around the internet, aiming to catalog every organization that had lost their NEA funding. With more than 500 organizations on the list, the question shifted from who lost their funding to who didn't. While organizations of all kinds were impacted, it is the small and midsized institutions that lack endowments, prominent donors, and broad outreach whose futures are particularly in jeopardy. The cuts have affected a broad swath of projects – from a documentary film-maker in Fresno making a film about a woman who has played Harriet Tubman in civil war reenactments for 30 years; to a dance performance about south-east Asian mothers in New York City, to an organization that brings films, book clubs and other cultural events to rural Montana. Rick Noguchi who runs a non-profit called California Humanities, said he has seen the 112 NEH grants it awarded across the state suspended indefinitely by the Trump administration. 'There are many newer immigrant communities that don't have deep donors and struggle with being able to find individual donors that step in to tell their stories.' Back in Los Angeles, the cuts have blanketed cultural institutions with feelings of anxiety and urgency. But their leaders are also fighting back, vowing to continue the work of preserving local history in spite of the administration's threats to revoke non-profit status if they continue to champion DEI programs. The Japanese American National Museum (JANM), an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution in LA's Little Tokyo neighborhood that focuses on the history, culture and legacy of Japanese immigrants, initially lost grants that amounted to roughly $1.45m – though some have since been temporarily restored after a court order. Among those cut was a NEH landmarks of American history and culture grant, which funded a workshop helping teachers build a curriculum about the history of Japanese incarceration during the second world war. JANM CEO Ann Burroughs said that the program benefits approximately 20,000 students a year. 'It was very much to ensure that the history was never forgotten,' Burroughs said about the museum's mission and outreach. 'It was also to ensure that what happened to Japanese Americans never happened to anybody else.' Los Angeles's One Institute, which houses the largest queer archive in the world, also uses their collection to help educate others on queer history and marginalization. They lost a $15,000 NEA grant to support their upcoming annual festival in October, and now they are scrambling to hold fundraisers to keep the festival on track. Tony Valenzuela, the organization's executive director, said that their event is important because it covers a gap in education. 'Even in liberal states like California, only a fraction of students learn about the contributions of queer people to society,' Valenzuela said. 'If the government abandons funding non-profits and other individuals and organizations providing a social good, this country will also be abandoning whole swaths of its citizens who greatly benefit from this work.' Another organization that was hit hard was the Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD), which operates the Skid Row History Museum & Archive, located just a few blocks north of the neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles. They lost four grants administered by IMLS, NEH, and California Humanities, and are unlikely to receive an NEA grant that normally keeps the organization running – a total value of nearly $144,000 dollars, or 22% of the organization's annual budget. Like Clockshop, the LAPD's exhibitions, public programs and archives chart the ways Skid Row has been transformed – and nearly erased – due to development and gentrification. 'Not everyone sees Skid Row as a community, let alone a thriving arts community,' said Henry Apodaca, LAPD's media archivist. 'This is a critical counter narrative to popular narratives that we've all been inundated with when talking about Skid Row.' One of the terminated grants was an IMLS grant for small museums, which was being used to support a project called Welcome to the Covid Hotel. The project, named for the temporary medical treatment centers that popped up in vacant hotels during the pandemic to care for unhoused people, culminated in an exhibition and a series of theatrical performances based on interviews with patients, nurses and social workers. 'There's stories of people coming in blind and getting cataract surgeries,' explains LAPD's co-founder and artistic director, John Malpede. 'Someone with gangrene needed to have his legs amputated, and it saved his life. And most people got and accepted some form of next-step housing.' Malpede's performance is a creative way for policymakers to notice the Covid Hotels' impact and potentially make the sites into permanent fixtures. When the grants were canceled, LAPD was still waiting on more than $38,000 to come through: money that was supposed to pay venues, crew and performers for events that took place in April, as well as upcoming performances in May and June, and a forthcoming publication. While LAPD aims to move forward with their plans, they are uncertain on how to fund it. After going public on social media, private donors have since stepped up to help the JANM and Clockshop recoup their losses. LAPD and the One Institute, however, are still looking for support. Without this funding, not only could the non-profits disband, but also the communities that have flourished as a result of their work. As Malpede warns: 'It's only because of the neighborhood standing up and using its own history that it continues to be present.'
