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Gentrification and its negative impacts
Gentrification and its negative impacts
Gentrification and its negative impacts
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There are many issues in the modern day that affect high income and low-income residents. Most recently, gentrification has been a huge issue for minorities. Gentrification is the process of renovating and improving a district so that it fits into the middle-class level. Minorities are people that are a lesser part of society. This means they have little power due to their ethnic, racial, religious and cultural differences. Minorities are often distinct in the presence. Specifically, in Oakland, Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, children of culture/color and low-income families etc. are the minority. Minorities are extremely affected by housing, gentrification and district changes. Gentrification causes an immense amount of fear for minorities because …show more content…
These minorities often come with families, creating a minority family. This then creates room for prosperous and wealthy families to move into the newly gentrified areas. In other words, the rich get richer, while the poor get poorer. Many also believe that “gentrification is contributing to income disparity” (Greenblatt 1). Since gentrification is creating income differences and changes, it's getting harder for low-income families to adjust to life when changes come so quickly. Although gentrification effects low-income families negatively, there is also some positive effects on the neighborhood and community itself. These effects help a community stay clean, organized and safe.“Neighborhoods once struggling or tagged as derelict have become prime real estate for young professionals and empty nesters, older couples whose children are grown up and not living at home” (Greenblatt). The question is, are these changes and sacrifices worth it in the end? With gentrification, both low income and mid/high-income families are …show more content…
Not only does this positive change help a community and city get a fresh start to a wealthier life, but there are also new programs and initiatives that come with the gentrification of a community. Greenblatt also explains how the positives of gentrification turn into negatives along the way. He comments that since so many new wealthy foreigners and young professionals are moving to these urban cities, they are making a positive change, but overtime real estate values will begin to rise to an unimaginable amount. “ The newcomers also are causing real estate values too sore, spoken concerned that people with fewer means are being forced to move to lower cost suburbs, where jobs and social services are scarcer and commutes longer” (Greenblatt 2). Those who cannot afford to live are being forced out of their own home and community. Minorities have two options, both out of their hands, either move into an affordable house or end up on the streets. Neither one of these options suit minorities and their lifestyles. Since there is a huge sacrifice to pay with gentrification, one can only hope that the sacrifice was worth it. Greenblatt uses different gentrification success stories to explain how gentrification can help the community grow and reshape a neighborhood that was once labeled dangerous into a community where everyone wishes to
Gentrification is defined as the process by which the wealthy or upper middle class uproot poorer individuals through the renovation and rebuilding of poor neighborhoods. Many long-term residents find themselves no longer able to afford to live in an area, where the rent and property values are increasing. Gentrification is a very controversial topic, revealing both the positive and negative aspects of the process. Some of the more desirable outcomes include reduced crime rate, increased economic activity, and the building of new infrastructures. However, it is debated whether the negatives overwhelm the positive. An increase in the number of evictions of low-income families, often racial minorities can lead to a decline of diversity
Lance Freeman tackles the issue of gentrification from the perspectives of residents in the gentrified neighborhood. He criticizes the literature for overlooking the experiences of the victims of gentrification. The author argues that people’s conceptions on the issue are somewhat misinformed in that most people consider it as completely deplorable, whereas in reality, it benefits the community by promoting businesses, different types of stores, and cleaner streets. These benefits are even acknowledged by many residents in the gentrified neighborhood. However, the author admits that gentrification indeed does harm. Although gentrification does not equate to displacement per se, it serves to benefit primarily homeowners and harm the poor. Additionally,
... motivation for wealthy individuals to return to the inner-city core but it also provides impetus for commercial and retail mixed-use to follow, increasing local revenue for cities (Duany, 2001). Proponents of gentrification profess that this increase in municipal revenue from sales and property taxes allows for the funding of city improvements, in the form of job opportunities, improved schools and parks, retail markets and increased sense of security and safety ((Davidson (2009), Ellen & O’Reagan (2007), Formoso et. al (2010)). Due to the increase in housing and private rental prices and the general decrease of the affordable housing stock in gentrifying areas, financially-precarious communities such as the elderly, female-headed households, and blue-collar workers can no longer afford to live in newly developed spaces ((Schill & Nathan (1983), Atkinson, (2000)).
The downgrading of African Americans to certain neighborhoods continues today. The phrase of a not interested neighborhood followed by a shift in the urban community and disturbance of the minority has made it hard for African Americans to launch themselves, have fairness, and try to break out into a housing neighborhood. If they have a reason to relocate, Caucasians who support open housing laws, but become uncomfortable and relocate if they are contact with a rise of the African American population in their own neighborhood most likely, settle the neighborhoods they have transfer. This motion creates a tremendously increase of an African American neighborhood, and then shift in the urban community begins an alternative. All of these slight prejudiced procedures leave a metropolitan African American population with few options. It forces them to remain in non-advanced neighborhoods with rising crime, gang activity, and...
Too often, the knee-jerk response is to fight development in these gentrifying neighborhoods. The consequences of this are two-fold. First, economics 101 tells us that capping supply will only cause prices to rise. Instead of newcomers filling newly-constructed units, they will quickly flood the existing stock of housing, quickening gentrification. Second, thwarting development shuts the release valve that alleviates housing price pressures that caused gentrification in the first place. Since not building is not an option, politicians would prefer to funnel new construction into disadvantaged neighborhoods instead of letting it happen where there is market demand. Development suppressed, gentrification swiftly captures the neighborhood and
When their neighborhood starts changing and all these luxury homes are being built for the wealthier residents, you can have a lot of racial tension. Although the Upper class residents do occupy these newly renovated places, they are not to blame for it. Policy makers encourage gentrification more than they oppose it. To the Government it increases property taxes, and boost the economy. Ronnie Flores states; “[…] Success is measured not by how well people are accommodated, but how much profit can be made’’. It can be discouraging when Policy makers seem to be on the opposite side of what these longtime residents want to prevent or at least co-exist with. Investors and developers are always on the lookout for areas where they can buy cheap and reap the profits. Not once keeping in the mind the effects it can have on the current residents who built this city life that draws so much attention to it.
Gentrification is the keystone for the progression of the basic standards of living in urban environments. A prerequisite for the advancement of urban areas is an improvement of housing, dining, and general social services. One of the most revered and illustrious examples of gentrification in an urban setting is New York City. New York City’s gentrification projects are seen as a model for gentrification for not only America, but also the rest of the world. Gentrification in an urban setting is much more complex and has deeper ramifications than seen at face value. With changes in housing, modifications to the quality of life in the surrounding area must be considered as well. Constant lifestyle changes in a community can push out life-time
Furthermore, both articles “Gentrification: A Positive Good For Communities” and. “The Deeper Problems We Miss When We Attack ‘Gentrification’” exhibit their opinion on the positives of gentrification and the potential of “revitalization” in low-income urban communities. Badger argues that gentrification brings nothing more than further opportunities for urban communities while integrating citizens of different social classes. Furthermore, she continues to question if gentrification is in fact the monster that brings the prior expressions against gentrification where she says “If poor neighborhoods have historically suffered from dire disinvestment, how can the remedy to that evil — outside money finally flowing in — be the problem, too?”(Badger) Stating that the funds generated from sources external that are brought into these communities can’t be problematic.
In discussions of Gentrification, one controversial issue has been with displacement. Gentrification is the process of renovating and repairing a house or district so that it complies to wealthier residents (Biro, 2007, p. 42). Displacement is a result of gentrification, and is a major issue for lower income families. Gentrification is causing lower-income residents to move out of their apartments because they’re being displaced by upper class residents who can afford high rent prices and more successful businesses. Throughout out the essay, I will discuss how gentrification affects lower income residents and how it results in displacement. Then I will follow on by discussing some positive and negative effects that take place because of Gentrification.
Inner City Communities are often areas which are both densely populated and deteriorating(quote). The areas and its residents have strongly been correlated with social and economical disparity. Residents of inner city communities have been plagued with problems including: “high unemployment, poor health care, inadequate educational opportunities, dilapidated housing, high infant mortality, and extreme poverty” (Attitudes and Perceptions, n.d). Though the inner city communities have been stricken with
"Building Partnerships to Revitalize America's Neighborhoods." HBCU Central (Winter 2002): 1-6. Winter 2002. Web. 2 May 2012.
Gentrification can be defined as the cultural, economic, social, and physical occurrence in which middle to upper class citizens essentially moves into a declining neighborhood/area, at the cost of replacing and/or displacing the original residents. It has been a controversial topic for quite some time now, and the debate for it only continues to grow. On one side, there are those who say the process is a beneficial one, describing it as something that makes cities safer, nicer to live in, and economic value. This is understandable, since an area that goes through gentrification is “renewed” in a sense. However, this is a very superficial way of thinking. While gentrification may have its benefits, I believe this system of renovation is largely
...r of inequality in America, with so much poverty located within such a close proximity to the White House. That being said, gentrification efforts in DC appear to be focused on removing poor people, or at the very least, the visual image of crime, poverty, and corruption as it relates to the most powerful city in the country. Community activist groups have tried time and time again to stop gentrification from affecting their community, but often times, to no avail. What is truly sad is that while this cycle is continually perpetuated as a matter of “haves versus have nots” the way in which this system seems to always disproportionately marginalize one race of people in favor of another, does raise the question as to whether or not gentrification was orchestrated to operate in such a manner; and if so, what are the affected groups going to do about it.
If it is simply left up to the free market, it is more likely that rich people and business will push out the poor and the smaller businesses. The way income and wealth is largely distributed within America means that most of the rich and corporations moving in are Caucasian and those being displaced are minorities and people of color. It is a product of predatory capitalism that is able to reign due to the lack of proper restrictions and checks and balances on behalf of the government. The strange anxiety that any rules or regulations would stymie the development of these various cities and neighborhoods continues to be a convenient and false defense against gentrification criticism.
Especially if my parents were to relocate to a low-income neighborhood, I would not have been the same independent, intelligent black young women I am now. I grew up in a middle-income neighborhood in a nice condominium. We had great neighbors that helped one another other out through any situation. According to Vox, they stated "Neighborhood plays a huge role in social mobility, they find — around half the size of the role that parental income itself plays. Moving a child from a neighborhood in the bottom 25 percent of the income distribution to the top 25 percent, they found, yields hundreds of thousands of dollars in lifetime earnings. The statistics rate goes to show that neighborhoods do have an impact on the individual whether you are a child, teenager or adult and it does affect how the individuals will intake in the neighborhood