Denver’s Green Mile: Marijuana gentrification as a process of urban change

ABSTRACT

Does recreational marijuana legalization have the potential to transform urban spaces? Using Denver’s “Green Mile” as a case study, this study explores the potential for marijuana legalization to encourage the creation of thematic urban spaces. More specifically, the analysis contributes to understandings of gentrification by suggesting that commodified vice (i.e., marijuana) can function as a driver of gentrification, when accompanied by the evolution of societal (or gentrifier) perceptions. Utilizing a grounded theory method, we describe a specific type of commercial gentrification—marijuana gentrification—characterized by economic change and displacement due to the infusion of marijuana-related businesses and associated symbology into an area. Major elements of this process include: (1) commodification supported by the middle and upper classes that in turn serves as a magnet for other businesses frequented by the more affluent, (2) signs and symbols associated with a marijuana-themed environment that carry meanings appealing to particular urban gentrifiers, and (3) people attracted by, and with access to, the marijuana industry sharing the classic traits of gentrifiers. Explicating this process contributes to literature related to the impacts of marijuana legalization on urban spaces and adds to research on gentrification and thematic urban districts, by introducing legalized marijuana as a material foundation for both.

Acknowledgments

We thank all of the participants in this research for their time and cooperation. We also thank Drs. D’Lane Compton, Vern Baxter, and David Beriss for their contributions to the original formulation of this work, and the editor and anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions. The data collection procedure was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of New Orleans.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Notes

1. Moves to reduce the presence of adult theaters and peep shows in New York City’s Times Square stand as an example (Zukin, 1995).

2. It is important to note that the Denver metropolitan area has experienced rapid population growth in recent decades. Between 2010 and 2019, the City of Denver’s population increased from approximately 600,000 to over 727,000, an increase of 21.2% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020). Displacement pressures are high in many less affluent and racial/ethnic minority areas of the city (Rubino, 2017). Our discussion of marijuana gentrification here must be understood in this context.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nick T. Van De Voorde

Nick T. Van De Voorde is a doctoral candidate in sociology at Louisiana State University. His research interests include urban sociology, criminology, policing, community, and issues related to place, space and the urban-rural continuum. He resides in the New Orleans area with his wife and two pugs.

Tim Slack

Tim Slack is professor of sociology at Louisiana State University. His scholarship focuses on the areas of social stratification, social demography, community and environment, and rural sociology, with emphasis on space and place as axes of inequality.

Michael S. Barton

Michael S. Barton is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Louisiana State University. His research interests are in the areas of criminology and urban sociology, with much of his research focusing on the importance of neighborhood change for crime. He has recently published in several academic outlets including Homicide Studies, Crime & Delinquency, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Urban Studies, Social Science Research, Deviant Behavior and PLOS ONE.