Since the Berlin Wall fell, the gentrification of some easternneighborhoods has been ongoing. But as high-end development spreads,some are saying: enough. They fear Berlin`s character could beirrevocably changed.Mario Feistremembers that there used to be bakeries and small grocery shops in theOderberger Strasse when he first moved there in 1989. Today, it is mucheasier to get a latte macchiato or a 150-euro shirt outside his frontdoor than a loaf of bread or carton of milk.He has watched ashis street has been transformed from a dreary road marked by crumblingfacades to a hip thoroughfare of renovated buildings, expensiveboutiques and trendy cafés, whose sidewalks often resemble a fashioncatwalk on sunny weekends.It`s a metamorphosis that he`s not completely comfortable with,especially since it could take on a whole new dimension once the12,000-square-meter development of luxury apartments being constructedjust outside his back window is completed.Called Marthashof,it will house around 500 people, and since the square meter price forthe townhouses starts at 3,000 euros, the large influx into theneighborhood will be quite well off."It could become a verysterile place just for rich people and not the kind of place I`d wantto live," he said. "I want to have different kinds of people here."His concerns are not his alone. As Berlin`s gentrification processspreads to encompass more and more neighborhoods, people are beginningto push back at what they see as a danger to a vibrant, diverse city ofneighborhoods featuring people of different social and economicbackgrounds.In some neighborhoods, like Feist`s Prenzlauer Berg, gentrification hasbeen happening for years. But as Berlin continues to pull in moreinvestment and its international reputation attracts more wealthypeople, the neighborhood has seen a construction boom in luxuryapartments and townhouses, which, in comparison to London, New York orParis, can still be had on the cheap.The fears are that as morewealthy people move in to an area, their up-market tastes will bereflected in businesses that set up shop and rents will go up, pricingout lower and middle-income people.Feist said he`s already seenit happen in his street, when a Greek restaurateur was forced to moveout after his rent was tripled when the building housing his eaterychanged hands."Gentrification is not a good or bad thing initself," said Antje Seidel-Schuelze, a researcher at the GermanInstitute of Urban Affairs. "In one way, the districts where it happensbecome better. But long-established people in a neighborhood are oftenreplaced by wealthier people. That leads to a certain homogeneity."
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