Can anyone stop Atlanta's rapid gentrification (East Point, Auburn: middle-class, sales, credit)

[jero23]

Originally Posted by bu2

Probably because the middle class Blacks who supported it moved away. Coupled with the move from urban retail to strip centers.

The real question is who and what caused them to move away...jobs and the other is employment centers being set out in the suburbs. Many of the black middle class households cannot afford to live in the city and do a reverse commute thus they moved closer to their jobs in the suburbs to survive. It's a cycle that should've never occurred, but many in the black middle class are attempting to reverse this by becoming entrepreneurs. However, if the average cost of acquiring a piece of property outweighs the benefits then they will open a business elsewhere. In other words, there needs to be incentives for black business owners to open their businesses there like it seems to be occurring elsewhere in the region.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by Tryska

This is my problem with Gentrification. (Other than that, I am generally for it):


"Murry's has been an anchor in this neighborhood for decades — during the crack wars of the 1980s and the urban blight that followed, when most other businesses packed up and left. Foster has been somewhat of an anchor, too. He's lived here for 54 years....

Two months ago, city officials announced that a new retail apartment complex is coming to the corner of Sixth and H streets northeast. Murry's will be closing, and a Whole Foods will take its place. Foster says he just hopes Whole Foods will put a bench out front."


Even if it's a Whole Foods - it's still the Walmartization of America.

In the case of the business in the story, that is the risk you take when you don't own your own property.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by jero23

The real question is who and what caused them to move away...

Well, for one thing, a massive interstate construction project that was more disruptive than anything most of us have ever had to deal with.

[Clayton white guy]

The "Real" story with the Old Fourth Ward, Vine City, Washington Park, Adamsville, Bankhead, and to a lesser extent Collier Heights declines is in reality the END of segregation. Instead of being limited to only certain neighborhoods, middle and upper income Blacks could suddenly live ANYWHERE, and they did. They went to where ever their income achievement could take them: Middle Class/ Working class West End, Oakland City, Sylvan Hills, Capital View. Middle to Upper Class Cascade Heights, Kirkwood, and East Lake, and East Atlanta. (Contrary to earlier posters, Kirkwood nor East Atlanta were "working-class White neighborhoods, while not "Buckhead", they were many tiers above White working class Lakewood Heights and Cabbage Town.) The old Jim Crow neighborhoods cleared out after decades of thriving because their residents had CHOICES. The downside: only the poorest of the poor and elderly remained. The upside: Choice; the apex of the argument for capitalism. People have freedom of choice to create their own destinies and neighborhoods. Socialism is THE MOST RACIST argument ever; it states that "certain" people can't achieve without the aid of their "betters". Nothing could be further from the truth.

[glovenyc]

Originally Posted by Clayton white guy

The "Real" story with the Old Fourth Ward, Vine City, Washington Park, Adamsville, Bankhead, and to a lesser extent Collier Heights declines is in reality the END of segregation. Instead of being limited to only certain neighborhoods, middle and upper income Blacks could suddenly live ANYWHERE, and they did. They went to where ever their income achievement could take them: Middle Class/ Working class West End, Oakland City, Sylvan Hills, Capital View. Middle to Upper Class Cascade Heights, Kirkwood, and East Lake, and East Atlanta. (Contrary to earlier posters, Kirkwood nor East Atlanta were "working-class White neighborhoods, while not "Buckhead", they were many tiers above White working class Lakewood Heights and Cabbage Town.) The old Jim Crow neighborhoods cleared out after decades of thriving because their residents had CHOICES. The downside: only the poorest of the poor and elderly remained. The upside: Choice; the apex of the argument for capitalism. People have freedom of choice to create their own destinies and neighborhoods. Socialism is THE MOST RACIST argument ever; it states that "certain" people can't achieve without the aid of their "betters". Nothing could be further from the truth.

Agreed. It was the end of segragation with a few cups of blockbusting, and a heaping tablespoon of redlining added to the recipe.

[lovinthe404]

I think gentrification can be prosperous for a neighborhood as well as its inhabitants. The opinion that gentrification displaces poor people of color by well-off white people is a claim so commonplace that most people accept it as a widespread fact of urban life when truly, it is not. Gentrification of this sort is actually exceedingly rare. The socio-economic status of most neighborhoods is strikingly stable over time. When the ethnic compositions of low-income black neighborhoods do change, it is typically because Latinos and other immigrants move into a neighborhood and such in-migration is probably more beneficial than harmful. As for displacement, the most objectionable feature of gentrification, there is actually very little evidence it happens. In fact, so-called gentrifying neighborhoods appear to experience less displacement than nongentrifying neighborhoods. As long as the previous tenants are afforded the opportunity to remain at a reasonable rate, I am all for it.

[Rock Climber]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Can anyone stop Atlanta's rapid gentrification? | Atlanta News & Opinion Blog | Fresh Loaf | Creative Loafing Atlanta

Oh noes, money and prosperity in the heart of our cities. We can't have that, can we?

Can anyone stop the rapid decline of the inner suburbs?

[lem1985]

it wont stop it helps erase memories of what was normal for 25-40 yrs in some areas. i think in 10 yrs black population will be around 35-40 % with white being a majority and latino making up a small percentage in the city limits. the question is what would some of these gentrified areas will be like in 25 years ? will the suburbs being the go too areas again around that time ?

[GregsDaddy]

Have you been over toward the West End lately? That area still looks like something out of a third world country. Sure there is one nice renovated house here and there, but overall that area is still a steaming pile and at least a decade away from livable.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by afdinatl

It's the best thing to happen to Atlanta

Yeah, I'm chuckling a little because I'm thinking about all the complaints posted about Detroit being that nobody gentrified Detroit.

How do you balance the "waaaah you are gentrifying and pushing out the poor" with "waaah you are abandoning the city and leaving behind the poor".