In this article, “Gentrification”, by Sherman Alexie, the author tells a story about his neighborhood. The authors story was one where he thought he was doing the right thing but yet once he had done it, he did not feel good about it at all. The author shows how there is still racism in America and that can change the way people see things. The author shows this through a personal story that happened awhile back.
Gentrification is the process of improving a struggling neighborhood for affluent people. One of the main causes of this shown by Kelefa Sanneh’s article “Is Gentrification Really a Problem?” , is the real estate market. Things that affect the value of something in a certain neighborhood can end up having a direct influence in all of the neighborhood and can lead to gentrification. The construction of a luxury apartment building can attract more businesses and in turn, more high-quality living spaces which could eventually displace someone living three blocks away.
While the longtime resident's half see it as something that can be good with the old rundown houses being fixed up, reduction in crime, increasing property value and new shops popping up, they also fear the worse. From the policymaker's perspective gentrification also has several positives. It can reduce vacancies as those abandoned and rundown homes get bought and fixed up, declining neighborhoods become stabilized and diverse and all with no government involvement. While gentrification is neither all negative nor all positive, the negatives for the most vulnerable are those with the worst fear, the fear of being pushed out of their homes, the residents.
There has to be a realistic solution that can be put into motion to benefit everyone involved. Referring again to his article “Is Gentrification All Bad?” Davidson argues that urban renewal, if done right, is not a monstrous custom that it is painted to be; nevertheless, he reasons that gentrification depends on who does it, how they do it, and why they do it. As a resident in New York, a city where gentrification is as widespread as the common cold in winter, Davidson speculates that those who go into a neighborhood with the intention to renovate houses, or abandoned buildings ought to have a good reason for it. The author points out that “Gentrification does not have to be something that one group inflicts on another…” (Davidson 349), rather, he suggests that everyone, the gentrifiers and the locals, be on the same page when it comes to developing their
It has been clearly established that gentrification does help revitalize once decrepit areas of a city, often creating new job opportunities, raising the value of properties, and creating cool, new areas to explore and enjoy. But we cannot mention the topic of gentrification without also mentioning the mass amounts of displacements of people. Gentrification clearly disproportionately benefits affluent, and often white people, while hampering the low-income and communities of color. This brings us back to the central question surrounding this topic, is gentrification a positive or negative process taking place in Portland? After understanding that an overwhelming amount of evidence points to gentrification as a negative process affecting Portland, we clearly see that the negative factors attached to gentrification outweigh the positives.
Effect of Gentrification: Introduction In this paper I will describe and explain the impact of gentrification on people of color living in the greater Seattle area in the regards to the issues of accessing housing. Ruth Glass coined the term “gentrification” in 1964 to describe the phenomenon of middle-class settlement in previously working class neighborhoods and the subsequent displacement of the working class residents. In response to these negative images, those with a stake in the process of gentrification, including developers, city planners and new residents, have attempted to replace the term with a variety of alternatives: revitalization, renaissance, rehabilitation and reinvestment (Ruth Glass). Rising property values in the light
Many proponents as well as advocates of gentrification like to use in many regard as code words to back up their claim that gentrification brings “revitalization” “urban renewal” and more importantly “enhances” the community. However, these are what many who are critical of gentrification deem to be “ code words”, because they appear to be ones that exude positivity when they are in fact not expressing the full story of the argument, because underneath this creeping positivity. There still exists this form of stereotyping that minorities, or those from lower socioeconomic means cannot create something that is unique or successful on their own. Furthermore, what existed in their communities before gentrification was one that brought little to no value to society.
4.1 Growth Management One of the key challenges evident in both SEQ and the Metro Vancouver Region is growth management, and ensuring that both regions can cater to their rapidly expanding populations. Both regions have had a tendency towards a low-density, dispersed settlement pattern, causing a number of urban sprawl related challenges (SEQRP, 2009-2031; MVRGS, 2011). The key theme established across both regions and their regional planning strategies highlight an aim to work towards compact urban development and the creation of well-planned communities that can be supported by a number of convenient centers and transit corridors (see Appendix 4 & 5) In the Metro Vancouver Region, the issue of growth management is the primary concept behind the regional planning objectives. The MVRGS establishes the first goal of creating a compact urban area (see Appendix 4).This goal is achieved through reducing sprawl, expanding infrastructure smartly, creating urban areas well serviced by multi-modes of transport and by focusing development to a higher density that optimizes a constrained urban land base (MVRGS, 2011).
“In its path, urban sprawl consumes immeasurable acres of forests, farmland, woodlands and wetlands and in its wake, leaves vacant storefronts, boarded up houses, closed businesses, abandoned and usually contaminated industrial sites, and traffic congestion, which can stretch miles from urban centers and is creating a hidden debt of unfunded infrastructure and services, urban decay, social dysfunction, and environmental degradation.” The sheer amount of negatives is easily one of the biggest reasons that this topic is viewed in such a negative light. Although the positives and benefits are helping in areas of great importance to families and most people like education and crime, it is still not enough for urban sprawl to be viewed as a positive among the
I argue that this definition is too sterile and too simplified, as it conveniently leaves out any of its possible pros or cons. Thus, I will adopt Peter Marcuse’s definition of gentrification from his article Gentrification, Social Justice and Personal Ethics. In his “Debate & Developments” article, Marcuse defines gentrification as a process of demographic displacement either by the means of economic upgrading (uppricing), physical upgrading (redevelopment), social upgrading (upscaling), or any combinations of the three. In his article, Marcuse asserts that any of these three kinds of upgrading do not inherently result in gentrification: “[…] upgradings can indeed take place without displacement and bring with them quite different sets of costs and benefits” (Marcuse
This is where the term gentrification comes in, which has been happening globally for decades. Aside from that, for this paper I will be focusing on the city of Atlanta, Georgia. The rapid gentrification and resulting displacement in the city of Atlanta can be attributed
Abstract: Displacement, change, and inevitably are words often used when discussing the process of gentrification. Currently many cities in California are facing the harsh reality that their communities are in much need of renovations. However this agreement was not established by the city and its residents. It was much more established by the wealthy onlookers who are interested in an urban high class lifestyle. This process has a systematic approach and thus intends to push out locals to accommodate new residents needs.
In this speech, I will begin by explaining what gentrification is along with a short background on the Lincoln Park gentrification, then I will proceed to explain how the families in these areas fought for their homes, and finally I will be discussing the gentrification that is affecting citizens of Chicago today. Body I. Gentrification is the process of renovating an area to meet the standards of a different social class, typically the upper middle class. Throughout this process the price of renting and owning a home increases while family owned businesses become bankrupt. Low-income families are left homeless and without the support of a
Gentrification is the process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste. Real Estate investors usually take low-income places that they feel have a chance to prosper economically, and turn them into areas that attract the middle and upper class workers. In doing so they feel like the low-income areas will be safer and more appealing, attracting more people to visit and live there. An improvement to a poor district sounds beautiful, but is gentrification as great as it’s sought out to be? Many residents have their doubts about gentrification due to the idea that the costs of their living will go up and they will be driven out of their neighborhoods.
In areas like Park Slope, which was going through the gentrification process before the other parts of Brooklyn, was seen as an area with a lot “potential” to the middle class that was looking to work closer to the city (4). New York City also gave tax redemptions to people who lived in these areas or use these areas for private interest (4). People hearing this in the suburbs will slowly start to look to buy these houses in these areas since they will get tax redemptions and a potential to sell the houses in these areas for more they purchased making them more money. This will peak the interest for people to make more money rather than making a more livable city for all classes. This is seen in the borough of Barnsbury in London where landlords were starting to see tenants as unprofitable.
