Gentrification in Los Baños.

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Elbi Stripped: Starbucks Gentrification was published in UPLB Perspective soon after Starbucks opened near the university. The writer, John Albert Pagunsan, posits that the presence of the coffee industry giant is a sign that gentrification has started in UPLB. He also is under the impression that citizens of Elbi desire to adapt a life of hermitage and frugality.

Let me blunt: I think that his opinion is not based on thorough research (particularly in sociology and economics) and reflects his naïveté and inexperience. His article felt like an impulsive yet emotionally weak response... not like the impassioned opinion pieces published by UPLB Perspective that made readers reveal where they drew the line on important issues. It also shows the sentimentality of students who haven't been long out of UPLB. The older alumni might say that they don't recognise the place anymore but they might actually like that Grove is getting a facilities upgrade.

A lot of restaurants have come and gone. Who remembers Burger King? Ankers? Bamboo Grove? Sizzlers? Tops? Micha's restaurant (not the bakery)? I bet that students who remark that gentrification just started now don't even know these restaurants... because they have closed shop long ago.

As I see it, the arrival of Starbucks is not all that bad. True, it is going to displace smaller businesses and poor people as he rightfully observed. I don't know where the previous tenants of Vega Arcade are now. The informal vendors will really have to move. Even with the former state, they have adapted the mobile business form; I don't see why they would ever abandon that nomadic nature for a brick-and-mortar business.

There are advantages as well. Honestly, I see that these pros trump the cons (I recognise the cons that the author mentioned):

- We have to admit that the Vega Arcade building was dilapidated and desperately needs an update. The tenants could return; or they could move to different locations and their clients will follow them (just like the ID photo shop I frequent).

- There are many coffee shops and restaurants along Grove. I don't see anything wrong if these establishments get competition in terms of service and product quality. Starbucks brings that to Los Baños; and I predict that the direct competitors will upgrade their facilities first, followed by the rest of the establishments. And I don't mean major changes... as a consumer, I'd like to see a big improvement in food handling safety and hygiene standards for these restaurants. And clean toilets!

-  Consumers in Los Baños, contrary to what the author is thinking, are ready to experience something that is relatively foreign and has the sosyal reputation attached to it. And these consumers go well beyond the UPLB student crowd. And this brings another realisation for me: Los Baños is not just about the "sleepy" UPLB image romanticised by many. It is home to a diverse crowd of people, some with a penchant for really expensive coffee.

Is gentrification bad? Or should we not put a judgment label on a phenomenon often attached to the economic development of a city, linked with human movement? I suggest that a UPLB Sociology student look into this as part of his/her research. It might prove to be an interesting study.

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