Have You Been to NightShop in Bloomington, IL?
I’m not saying I’m magic
or like a major social influencer
All I know for sure
is that towns seem to get cool
after a few years of me living in them.
Back in the day
the apple of Wauwatosa’s eye
was Drew’s Variety and Craft
a store exclusively built
for stocking stuffers and 2/$1 bags
of expired candy.
Well I gentrified that bitch
and downtown Wauwatosa
has never been the same.
Now you’d think you were
in the same quaint cobbled town squares
my European ancestors left
to come invade yours.
There’s frozen yogurt
and artisanal olive oil.
The old boutiques have all stayed
but what’s a charming white town
without local stores the majority
of the population can’t afford
to step foot in?
Three themed bars,
two coffee shops,
a taqueria
owned by white people,
handmade chocolates,
new stop lights,
a skate park I “helped design,”
and three renovations
to a McDonald’s that won’t die.
These things weren’t on North Avenue
before I lived there
but they’re there now.
And with the condos going in
above the old diner-turned Blaze Pizza,
that’s all just the beginning.
I have older city planning on my resume.
Did you know that
High School Musical
wasn’t released
until seven years after I
moved to New Mexico?
Breaking Bad came out
the same year.
I’m not saying I’m responsible
for the re-discovery
of the New Mexican desert
by location scouts
looking for a Southwestern Aesthetic to fill with
aggressively anglo Americans
who are either singing and dancing
or encroaching on Hispanic-run drug markets
with their own ~purer~ product,
but
the film industry there
has never been the same since I left.
And don’t forget
before I was born in 1997
my family could almost afford
rent in San Francisco.
So if you’re looking to
invigorate your neighborhood
with local businesses
and an air of earthy yuppie culture
I’m available to hire
for the low low price
of an apartment
in a neighborhood
that I can comfortably afford
until more financially stable whities
realize how cool I’ve made the neighborhood
and we all get driven out.
I’m not saying I’m magic
or like a major social influencer
All I know for sure
is that towns seem to get cool
after a few years of me living in them.
Back in the day
the apple of Wauwatosa’s eye
was Drew’s Variety and Craft
a store exclusively built
for stocking stuffers and 2/$1 bags
of expired candy.
Well I gentrified that bitch
and downtown Wauwatosa
has never been the same.
Now you’d think you were
in the same quaint cobbled town squares
my European ancestors left
to come invade yours.
There’s frozen yogurt
and artisanal olive oil.
The old boutiques have all stayed
but what’s a charming white town
without local stores the majority
of the population can’t afford
to step foot in?
Three themed bars,
two coffee shops,
a taqueria
owned by white people,
handmade chocolates,
new stop lights,
a skate park I “helped design,”
and three renovations
to a McDonald’s that won’t die.
These things weren’t on North Avenue
before I lived there
but they’re there now.
And with the condos going in
above the old diner-turned Blaze Pizza,
that’s all just the beginning.
I have older city planning on my resume.
Did you know that
High School Musical
wasn’t released
until seven years after I
moved to New Mexico?
Breaking Bad came out
the same year.
I’m not saying I’m responsible
for the re-discovery
of the New Mexican desert
by location scouts
looking for a Southwestern Aesthetic to fill with
aggressively anglo Americans
who are either singing and dancing
or encroaching on Hispanic-run drug markets
with their own ~purer~ product,
but
the film industry there
has never been the same since I left.
And don’t forget
before I was born in 1997
my family could almost afford
rent in San Francisco.
So if you’re looking to
invigorate your neighborhood
with local businesses
and an air of earthy yuppie culture
I’m available to hire
for the low low price
of an apartment
in a neighborhood
that I can comfortably afford
until more financially stable whities
realize how cool I’ve made the neighborhood
and we all get driven out.