Research Project

My research analyzes Morris Avenue in Elizabeth, New Jersey, a two-block commercial corridor of Colombian-themed restaurants, boutiques, and salons known locally as “Little Colombia”, to ask how Latine-led gentrification, or gentefication (where “gentri” is replaced by gente, meaning “people” in Spanish), reshapes the material space of Little Colombia. While scholarship increasingly examines gentrification led by high-income people of color, little attention has been given to how gentefication operates in Elizabeth, home to the state’s largest concentration of Colombians. Although residents often describe the city as gentrifying, this study focuses on how the physical transformation of Little Colombia contributes to that process. I examine the role of the Neighborhood Preservation Program, a state initiative that funds façade improvements and commercial development, alongside conducting ethnographic fieldwork, streetscape comparison using Google Maps (2007–present), oral histories collected by urban scholar Yamil Avivi, and demographic analysis from U.S. Census data. These methods trace how Little Colombia has shifted from a space frequented by Colombians to one that markets very specific notions of Colombianidad. Drawing on Elizabeth Currid-Halkett and Sarah Williams’ concept of the “geography of buzz,” I analyze how storefronts, murals, and sidewalks in Little Colombia commodify Colombian culture to attract visitors, new residents, and investment. Ultimately, this project shows how diasporic place-making can increase visibility while also producing subtle forms of spatial exclusion, contributing to urban geography and U.S. Colombian Studies.