Muñiz, Janet, and Michael David Aquino (student author). 2024. “Coping On La Cuatro: How Business Owners Display Cultural Resilience Through Development.” Emotion, Space, and Society. (53) 1755-4586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2024.101049

ABSTRACT

Historically marked by infrastructural changes, rising costs, and the attraction of higher-income residents, gentrification has evolved into a more nuanced phenomenon influenced by ethnicity and race. This study examines these dynamics by focusing on Latinx communities also experiencing ‘gentefication’—a process where middle-class Latinx individuals and new businesses move into working-class Latinx neighborhoods, leading to physical, symbolic, and social losses. Through 43 in-depth interviews, three years of ethnographic fieldwork, and document analysis, our study aims to show how business owners of La Cuatro, a predominantly Mexican downtown business community in Santa Ana, California, cope with its ongoing gentrification. The scope of this paper includes the efforts of longtime and new business owners in maintaining La Cuatro’s cultural identity and social cohesion. Our findings reveal that while gentrification projects can lead to the celebration of local culture, they also pose significant threats to its preservation. By documenting how individuals cope by adapting and redefining their connection to La Cuatro, this study highlights the cultural resilience of Latinx communities and contributes to broader discussions on place attachment and identity preservation disrupted by the gentrification of immigrant and communities of color in the U.S.