Political Crossfire Forums

When you hear the word "gentrification" does it conjure a positive connotation for you or a negative one? What are your thoughts on the gentrification of urban areas?

the first two, at the same time.

You should have made this a multiple answer question. I actually don't feel too bad about this when it happens, so some people get pushed out of the old neighborhood, oh well. It's a hell of a lot better than the polar opposite, urban blight/decay.

So the wife worked for a non-profit in Denver trying to prevent the "gentrification" of our Five Points neighborhood (shrug, it was a job). She quit when she realized it was just about keeping middle-class hispanics out of a historically black neighborhood.

Gentrification has different implications depending on where it is happening. In many cities, it means that a certain neighborhood has become favorable and poors will have to relocate to a different neighborhood. Problematic in a way, sure, but not horrific.

In NYC, there is hypergentrification, which I characterize in two ways:
1. Neighborhoods go from affordable to poor families to only affordable to upper middle class yuppies at light speed
2. This is happening in dozens of traditionally affordable areas at one time.

It's definitely problematic here. It's so fast and so widespread that poors can't retreat fast enough, and middle class families can't really keep up either. This issues is a dead horse that keeps getting beaten, but NYC is headed for a scenario where only the wealthy can live in any kind of comfort, the upper middle class live in less than desirable conditions, the middle class live in poverty, and poors can't live here at all. I do think it's a serious problem. This city really runs on service workers, and how many of them have to move an hour+ commute from their jobs in Manhattan before they decide it's not worth it and we're left with a city that's priced out all the people who make it fun? I've become friends with a few of these types - most of them have some kind of artistic or cultural aspirations, which is also a big draw to the city, but it's becoming less and less worth it to them.

Empty suits like me love this city because of all the interesting things it has to offer, but we contribute very little to that offering. Once those people are gone, it's just small apartments and crowded public transit.

problem with new york is rent controls

True gentrification begins with gay couples moving into poor neighborhoods to make them safe and "desirable" so young white couples can find affordable homes, who, in turn, hipster it up. After they over-hipster it to the point of being unbearable, it then becomes meh to them, or they just grow up. That's when the richer white people come in and tear down the old homes and build new ones and make it an enclave of success.

Decades later, this cycle can reconstitute itself, especially if a mortgage bubble bursts and poor people can come in and squat on abandoned homes. These enterprising entrepreneurs often will create new business models that will make it more a commercial zone at that point, making it a less desirable neighborhood.