op-ed: hood rich – does gentrification prove people need to invest in their ‘ghetto

With gentrification rife and the people of inner city communities seemingly in anguish over big developers and corporations moving in and changing the landscape of local life, I wanted to explore a taboo term that existed as long I can remember – ‘Hood Rich’.

With the proceeds of crime a fixture in these communities, the people who earn the big money become local superstars with many gaining iconic status and become more like cult figures within these communities rather than the negative connotations that comes with there line of work. Various definitions circle the internet, but the closest I can get to a definitive answer would be a ‘thousanaire’ earning from illicit gains or legitimate means who doesn’t quite have enough money to retire to that grade II listed Georgian terrace in Chelsea.

Some would argue without these figures, unemployment would be worse and as a result, crime and theft even higher than it currently is (let’s face it the government has improved schemes for youth unemployment but much more can be done) – this course of action however can only be a double edge sword. We need people on the right side of the law. There is another set of people quietly getting on with things, and can also be considered ‘hood rich’. They don’t seem to have the same level of acclaim as their illegal counterparts, yet they anchor these inner city communities with aplomb.
Corner shop owners, fast food vendors, butchers, salon owners, barbers, beauty salon owners, and even athletes are all mainstays of inner cities, all of which carry a status worthy of being declared so to say, hood rich.

Despite the major supermarket retailers relentless insistence on engulfing the convenience industry (especially Tesco who has some 2,000 express/metro stores alone), there are signs of a resurgence – there are now 50,747 smaller independent community stores. Researching a list of 10 convenience stores for sale on BusinessForSale revealed the average turnover was £250,000 with the average net profit being £75,000 – plenty of money for an owner to be considered ‘a baller’. Similarly, the barber industry is experiencing a Renaissance period with many men making their appearance paramount to their lifestyle, a brief financial snapshot again taken from 10 barber shops for sale on BusinessForSale indicates an average turnover of £180,000 with net profits estimated at around £50,000 – plenty of money to warrant owners to do the shmoney dance.

Another prolific bunch from my shortlist are the fast food owners. Often modest in appearance, they quietly get on with business and are pulling in big numbers – stats calculated via BussinessForSale (taken from 10 fast food outlets on sale) indicate average turnover at £310,000 with net profits north of the £100,000 mark and it doesn’t stop there. With companies like JustEast and Deliveroo aiding the accessibility – revenues are only set to skyrocket and ‘boss man’ will have enough money to be dabbing to the bank with the credit cards but without the scammers.

In the category of sports, the average English football league player earns £4,000 a week that equates to £208,000 a year, excluding bonuses – coming from a poor inner city background this is a huge amount of money.

So where does all this wealth go.

The general practice of people who come from these so called ‘hoods’ all seem to follow a similar pattern – get rich and move away. Although there are numerous explanations surrounding the reason for these occurrences such as safety, comfort, flexibility and status – gentrification has proven all those aspects can be achieved through investing in underprivileged communities.

Gentrification in London alone has shown that a once poor postcode can be transformed into prime real estate in a short number of years. Many communities cry victim to the changes when they had the opportunity to invest and create the changes they wanted to see. With the clear wealth present in these communities, why aren’t measures taken sooner by the small business owners that operate in them to seize control organically before gentrification is enforced. More owners and community leaders need to invest in the local economy not just their businesses to actualize real power within inner cities.

Much like the government ad campaigns marketing the Army/Navy on TV or the newspaper ads encouraging youth to work in the NHS/Education – marketing traditional high street businesses needs to become centre stage.

Crime markets itself, the promotion of lavish lifestyles (cars, jewellery, clothes, etc) is part and parcel of the illicit culture and indirectly recruits the next generation as a result.

Small business owners usually don’t carry a gregarious persona and not enough of them conduct interviews or go to education institutes to talk about their business experiences, so minimal is known about their success – ultimately depriving the youth of a potential role model.

Why do successful people from poor communities gain wealth and seemingly automatically want to abstain to grassier suburbs with traditionally ‘rich’ social status?

The image that gets sold of the ‘hood’ by it’s inhabitants is often real but a rose tinted one. The perception that a location is not desirable due to the current state often clouds the judgement of people who come from these environments which then creates an urgency to leave as soon as they sustain riches.

Encouraging people to invest in the communities they amass wealth is hugely important for the progressive development of underprivileged areas. Reinvesting in community projects, property, shopping centres, theatres, sports venues and local affairs would help all inhabitants of these communities rich or poor.

It is the responsibility of these community wealth gathers to use the riches to change the perception of the hood to become a location of desire rather one of impoverished circumstances.

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