From Santa Cruz to Modesto: Parallels and Crisis

This is a well-thought out article appearing in the Modesto Anarcho blog detailing ten years of change in downtown Modesto. There are many parallels to the changes Santa Cruz has undergone and continues to undergo. In twenty odd years I've seen this town shift from a sleepy forgotten beach town before the earthquake to an upscale gentrified consumer paradise on track to become the next Los Gatos or Carmel.

Principally though, I think we could benefit from a similar thoughtful long-term analysis of the trends in Santa Cruz from an anti-authoritarian anti-capitalist point-of-view. As it stands, we allow the business owners and rabid pro-law and order crowd to frame the public discourse on one hand, and Robert Norse and a handful of homeless advocates to frame the resistance to it on the other.

I'd like to see an upswing of public discussion about issues that effect our town and region from an anarchist perspective. Radicals writing and talking solely to other radicals is important, but misses an opportunity. Reaching out from our infoshops and co-ops and circles of friends helps non-anarchists understand anarchist philosophy and gives others these analytical and intellectual tools to tackle hard social problems.

Anyway, here's the Modesto Anarcho article:

Why Is Downtown Dead?: Homelessness, Development, and Resistance

In the early 2000's, the place for young people to be was one place: Downtown Modesto. The closed off street of 10th and J was not only a home for City Hall, but also the movie theater, upscale restaurants, coffee shops, and fast food places. For many of the pre and post-high school age kids that gathered in the area however, the reason to be downtown was not to buy anything. They came downtown to hang out, meet new people, and be with friends. While many saw this as a chance to be around other youth, the downtown also was a well lit, relatively safe place that was also used by a fair amount of adults. It was a regular sight to see parents dropping kids off in mini-vans, knowing that they were safer there than at a house party. The kids could have been home in front of television, doing drugs and drinking, but instead they were in an open area filled with hundreds of different youth from different neighborhoods, races, and towns. In only a matter of years, this would all be gone.

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