Matador Network published a piece on "The cost of gentrification in Denver."
Excerpt:
Recently, at the windowless Candlelight Tavern in the Wash Park West neighborhood, I struggled to back up my belief that places like this are a part of our culture any more than the newer, trendier places that have opened on Broadway and the other side of the park.
"What the fuck is wrong with this generation's mindless pursuit of ironic authenticity?" asked fellow patron Scot Kreider, a 42-year-old lawyer and Denver area native. “What is this so-called "opposite" of a dive bar? Please give me an example. Because as far as I can tell, a 'dive' bar is wherever a fucking hipster goes so that they can feel authentic, which immediately cheapens it."
I fell into a deep crisis of self-confidence. Am I a hipster merely because I'm 31? Am I degrading this long-running establishment just by being here, when I was not born in the neighborhood? The uncomfortable feeling that has grown inside me isn't just about my preference for cheap booze. It is about rooting for the home team, even when they are the underdog. It is about the people's history of their neighborhoods living on for upcoming generations.
Read the rest
here.
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