Book Review / What the Signs Say: Language, Gentrification, and Place-Making in Brooklyn

Abstract

Shonna Trinch and Edward Snajdr decipher signage in a way that will prevent you from looking at a sign in the same manner again. Their research is built on a series of site visits, observations, and ethnographic interviews and they posit that signage plays an important role in gentrification. As they explain it, signs effect public space; well designed and interesting signs are important attributes of placemaking, often part of a strategy for cities to reclaim their appeal.