実践ビジネス英語 ディクテーション (10/12,13)
こんにちは。NHKラジオ「実践ビジネス英語」”Talk the Talk”のディクテーションです。
Lesson 13のテーマは、’Gentrification Controversies’（ジェントリフィケーションを巡る論争）でした。Vignetteでは、ジェントリフィケーション（高級化）という言葉が不動産だけでなく、最近は食べ物などに対しても使われるようになってきたことなどが話題になりました。
“Talk the Talk”では、「100品目へのチャレンジ」についても話されています。
*英文の終わりに語注をつけました。
Gentrification Controversies
（S: 杉田敏先生 H: Heather Howardさん）
S: In our current vignette, Pat McMillan tells the A&A staff that he and his new wife decided not to live in a so-called microproperty.
Would you like to live in a place like that, Heather?
H: I don’t think that would be for me, actually.
It might be interesting to stay in temporarily, but I think I would soon feel cramped, hemmed in.
I need a bit more elbow room in the place I live.
I do love order and organization.
As I’ve said before, tidying and decluttering are very relaxing for me.
But a microproperty would probably require an intense level of neatness.
I might have to do that 100 Thing Challenge I read about some years ago.
S: What’s the 100 Thing Challenge?
H: I saw an article on it (the 100 Thing Challenge) about 10 years ago.
Apparently the idea was to reduce one’s overall possessions to just 100 items.
Including things like clothes, shoes and silverware, though different people had different definitions of an “item.”
One person in the article treated a single pair of shoes as one item, while another person viewed all their shoes as one item.
Overall, though, the idea was that too many possessions weigh people down, prevent them from moving forward with their lives.
S: The conversation eventually turns to the issue of gentrification.
You’ve said before that you don’t have any personal experience with gentrification, right?
H: No, I don’t. Nor, do my friends and family.
What about you, Mr. Sugita?
S: I’ve actually been to Bedford-Stuyvesant, the New York neighborhood described in the vignette, to see for myself the effects of gentrification.
It was quite interesting to see the fashionable cafes, wine bars and entertainment spots.
It’s also happening elsewhere in New York, and in Washington D.C., Chicago, Seattle and other cities.
H: I was wondering, is this something happening in Japan as well?
S: I get asked that question a lot.
There are certain areas in Tokyo, especially in the seafront district, that have been renovated and revitalized, but I doubt we can call it gentrification.
We didn’t really have the inner-city areas in the first place.
H: In your experience, how do the people in the U.S. neighborhoods feel about the changes?
S: Gentrification has brought about a general reduction in crime, even though some people seem to dispute that.
However, there is a certain amount of community resentment toward the changes and the new arrivals.
In general, gentrification means increased property values, reduced vacancy rates and increased local revenues, but the displacement of old-time residents because of higher rent and over price increases is a big problem.
H: Yes, I hate the idea of long time residents being driven from their homes because a hipper crowd has decided to come in.
Local authorities need to find ways for established residents and the newcomers to work together and benefit each other.
People are not blots on the landscape to be gotten rid of because they don’t match the new decor.
Though, I should say there’s got to be at least some good in gentrification if it helps you escape a nickname like “Do or Die.” Yikes!
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microproperty: 非常に小さな不動産
declutter: 片づける
cramped: （人が）狭苦しく感じる
hemmed in: 閉じ込められて
“Do or Die”:「食うか食われるか」
お疲れさまでした。お読み下さり、ありがとうございます♪
