Gentrification Pros And Cons

Gentrification is a harsh reality that affects thousands on a day to day bases. With a series of relocations, erasure, and price hikes in all aspects, it has been made clear that the effects of gentrification are not a positive one nor is it an isolated incident. Despite all of these very real factors, one may argue that gentrification is a necessity for community growth but it is clearly another form of imperialism where the rich benefit and the poor are moved out and left to figure it out.

Gentrification effects people in urban communities in all fifty states of America. According to “Gentrification in America” by Mike Maciag between the years 2000 to 2015 the acceleration of gentrification affected nearly 20 percent of urban communities.

Not only are people being pushed out of their neighbourhoods and homes by those willing to pay more, there is an apparent price hike for those who desire to stay in their homes. Non-integrated/non-gentrified communities start off with higher poverty rates while simultaneously having low homeownership. Then people with higher incomes move in causing a raise in the cost of living within the community. Despite this the working class pay and low income remain the same for the original residents who can no longer afford to live in what once was their home. The social cost of the actions are extremely high and cause just as many community issues as household familial issues. In Stephen Shepherds “Why Gentrification is Bad” he states that out of fear of being displaced along with the poor don’t contribute to community and that if they were too contribute to the community and the displacement of the poor it would cause an even more severe impact to the community. The social cost of gentrification affects everyone and anyone and that in itself is a concern for people living in the community. All of these things contribute to the instability of a community according to Shepherds the more organized a community is the more likely to have methods for the improvement of the community and its residents but if said residents fear they are at risk at being displaced they won’t contribute much to the community therefore “devaluing” them and then continuing this detrimental cycle. Gentrification affects individuals but also affects communities negatively and if people thought