{"id":1842,"date":"2021-04-14T06:17:18","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T06:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uberlin.co.uk\/ask-uberlin-dont-you-feel-responsible-for-berlins-gentrification-nightmare-uberlinuberlin\/"},"modified":"2021-04-14T06:17:18","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T06:17:18","slug":"ask-uberlin-dont-you-feel-responsible-for-berlins-gentrification-nightmare-uberlinuberlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uberlin.co.uk\/ask-uberlin-dont-you-feel-responsible-for-berlins-gentrification-nightmare-uberlinuberlin\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask \u00fcberlin: Don\u2019t you feel responsible for Berlin's gentrification nightmare? : \u00fcberlin\u00fcberlin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ask \u00fcberlin: Don\u2019t you feel responsible for Berlin’s gentrification nightmare?<\/h3>\n

by James Glazebrook<\/span><\/h4>\n
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As a Berlin blog run by expats, who try to help other internationals make a life for themselves here, we’re used to being targeted by locals angry about the gentrification of their city. But we were taken aback by the vitriol behind John John’s comment on our original Ask \u00fcberlin… ANYTHING<\/a> post:<\/p>\n

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Did you notice that the Graefekiez is now Berlin\u2019s most expensive area ? That many people are leaving because they can\u2019t afford it ? Did you notice that Kreuzberg is NOT cool anymore ? Don\u2019t you feel responsible for the gentrification nightmare of your Kiez ? How much did you purchase your flat and how much do you expect to sale it ? Do you still feel welcome in Kreuzberg despite the fact that most people there obviously hate the kind of person you represent \u2013 long-term tourists with no connection to Germany or Berlin ? Are you aware that Berlin is QUICKLY losing all the things that made the city special ? How does it feel to be an english hipster caricature in a city where english hipsters are not welcome anymore ?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I’ve given a lot of thought to our response, because John John has a couple of valid points. Sometimes we do present ourselves (jokingly) as hipster caricatures – this comment came about a week after I dicked about for the You know you’re a Berliner when…<\/a> photos. And, as people willing and able to pay higher rents than those who used to live in our Kiez, we are part<\/em> of the problem… But the comment’s xenophobia, false assumptions (we rent, and have no plans to buy) and faulty argument – that we are responsible<\/em> for an economic process much larger than ourselves – deserve to be addressed.<\/p>\n

Ares Kalandides, the blogger behind Place Management & Branding<\/a><\/strong>, put it better than I could and kindly gave us permission to republish one of his posts. He may be talking about Neuk\u00f6lln rather than Kreuzberg, and responding to an old, notorious anti-Touri video, but what he says applies equally to our neighbourhood and \u00a0our situation:<\/p>\n