By Staff Writer: Luis Larios
For many, the thought of losing the place they have always called home, is a horrible thought. For others it may be a great opportunity to go on to bigger and better things. However, for people who live paycheck to paycheck is their worst nightmare. Gentrification is a thing that is happening all over the world, from people going to a place where tax laws are not as harsh as others, to places where there is zero to no tax laws all the way to places where the cost of living is so much cheaper that it is a no brainer to go to that place.
Mr. Alameda, a business owner in Mexico city says the amount of people coming from all over the world is starting to take effect in his everyday activities. “I’m going to the market and all I hear is English or any other language. I rarely hear Spanish, unless I see the regulars or the people I’ve known for some time”. For him to be saying that in a city where everyone around spoke spanish up until a few years ago speaks volumes of the situation.
Mr Alameda has been scared that one day he will not be able to maintain his business open, or even worse, having the thought of not being able to pay rent due to the increasing price of it. “Just last week I had to pay double of what I did three or four months ago, at this rate my family won’t have a place to sleep.”
With the increase in foreigners that have been searching for the lower cost of living in different parts of the world, the residents that have been living there for their whole lives, and get paid less than minimum wage have to resort to other means to be able to simply put food on the table. For quite some time now gentrification has been a topic of conversation, however, it never gets discussed in depth or at least until the areas have been taken over by foreigners and there are no natural born citizens of said community, which in turn affects the economy and population.