A young woman on a scooter lobbed a verbal hand grenade at a tour group on a hot summer night in Cleveland’s Little Italy two weeks ago. “This neighborhood is gentrified!” she yelled as she zoomed past 65 people on Random Road who were enjoying a two-hour “Take a Hike" walking tour of local history and culture.
It wasn’t clear why the woman used the G-word, a pejorative reference to what happens when new people, new money, and rising rents and taxes push longtime residents out of a neighborhood. She didn’t stop to explain. But her statement seemed to crystallize anxieties that permeate Little Italy.
