As a means of better understanding the connection between gentrified areas and the increasing number of trendy restaurants in North Portland, we chose to focus on a few restaurants plotted on our GIS maps in the Albina district. Looking first at Sweedeedee Restaurant, located on Albina Street, we observed that these trendy restaurants tend to exist within clusters and pockets in relation to one another. Perhaps a strategy of economic profit, saturating a small area with high numbers of similar commercial spaces, or just an illustration of early gentrification. This area of North Portland is immediately surrounded by minority neighborhoods with more affordable food resources rather than niche markets and restaurants. The other location we focused our attention on was Mississippi Street. The street is perhaps one of the more quintessential examples of a gentrified neighborhood in Portland. Primarily developed within the past five to ten years, the hip restaurants and bars cater to a nostalgic aesthetic, marketing commercial spaces as “pastoral chic,” encouraging new culturally constructed spaces that intentionally target the “creative class,” (Sullivan, Shaw 2011).
The first restaurant we visited, Sweedeedees exemplifies this gentrification aesthetic. Their record player harkens back to a simplified, low-tech era that is nostalgic for many Americans. The potted house plants dotting the brunch-spot play into the desire to feel connected to nature when consuming food. Their hand-written menu serves the purpose of contrasting the alternative restaurant with conventional, industrialized food. The mason jars filled with pickled vegetables contribute to a similar rustic chic atmosphere. Of the approximately thirty patrons, one was black, though the surrounding neighborhood was largely made up of minority residents. Sweedeedees is also located next door to a fresh produce market, “Mississippi Records,” and “the Portland Museum of Modern Art,” showcasing how institutions connected with gentrification cluster together.
In response to our first observation about the clustering of new institutions connected with gentrification, we began to question why these types of restaurants are so congested within the larger context of low real-estate property. If gentrification is driven by low property rates compared to potential rates, why would these trendy restaurants not choose to expand more rapidly throughout the larger landscape of North Portland? Our field investigation on Mississippi Street helped to illustrate some possible answers to these questions; however, the scope of our research cannot give definitive answers to such questions. These are questions we believe would be important to focus on in a more in-depth, long-term research project.