Time Magazine: Gentrification Not Bad for the Poor (Oak Brook, Energy: low income, fit in)

[Lookout Kid]

Several new comprehensive gentrification studies have come out recently that challange the myth that gentrification displaces the poor. There are even some measureable benefits to the poor that live in gentrifying areas! This article in Time Magazine sums up several of the new studies, and reflects a shifting academic consensus on the issue of gentrification.

Gentrification: Not Ousting the Poor? - TIME

To summarize:

1. Turnover occurs in all neighborhoods. Residents in gentrifying neighborhoods do not leave their neighborhoods with any more frequency than residents in non-gentrifying neighborhoods.

2. In non-gentrifying areas, residents who move out are replaced by more poor residents. In gentrifying areas, residents who move out are replaced by residents who are higher up the income scale. Instead of "displacement", there is really just "succession". The difference between gentrifying and non-gentrifying neighborhoods is the income level (and sometimes race) of the new residents who replace the old.

3. Poor residents in gentrifying neighborhoods actually see some economic gains if they have a high-school education. The only poor residents who don't gain from gentrification are those who did not graduate from high school.

[aragx6]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting; it's been a few years since I read Time regularly, and I might have missed this otherwise.

Definitely a hot button issue, never seen it argued this way before.

[Anthera]

Very interesting article. It makes sense intuitively.

[BRU67]

Thanks, good article. I've always harbored serious doubt that people being "pushed out" of gentrifying areas are actually being pushed out. Some exercise choice because their living habits no longer fit into the changing neighborhood (and that's usually a good thing for the decent people in the neighborhood!). Also, lower income people are more prone to be transient for assorted reasons. They're in debt and avoiding creditors or ex-spouses, they're in unstable or nonexistant careers, they get evicted for failure to pay rent, destroying stuff, or other problems, they're in trouble with the law, etc.

Yet, it's easy under these circumstances for "anti-gentrification" forces to point the finger at "evil yuppies" to suit their agenda. This is incorrect, and certainly doesn't lead to any greater understanding as to the causes of urban decay and possible solutions to it.

It's always boggled my mind that some think that people with more money moving into the neighborhood is a bad thing. Lower crime, houses being fixed up, more amenities, better schools, adaptive reuse of urban areas which will lessen dependence on oil. Wow, how horrible! In my opinion, when a neighborhood declines, good people are more likely to be displaced -- by crime, violence, and other BS things that equate to a low quality of life.

[ParkerP]

Do you guys think that if gas prices get utterly outrageous, that gentrification will occur even faster? Particularly on the south side of the city? I mean its already happening but do you think gas prices will cause the rate that its happening to spike severely?

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by ParkerP

Do you guys think that if gas prices get utterly outrageous, that gentrification will occur even faster? Particularly on the south side of the city? I mean its already happening but do you think gas prices will cause the rate that its happening to spike severely?

As Americans in the 20th and 21st century we've always had the luxury of our automobile. It's been a great equalizer in our country as almost everyone had a car, poor and rich alike. This may soon no longer be the case (we are running out of time) and the middle class may soon realize the value and cost savings of moving closer to the city.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by ParkerP

Do you guys think that if gas prices get utterly outrageous, that gentrification will occur even faster? Particularly on the south side of the city? I mean its already happening but do you think gas prices will cause the rate that its happening to spike severely?

I do. But I'm not sure how high prices will need to be or how long this process will take. The end of affordable urban sprawl would be quite jarring for the entire country. The "American Dream" of single-family houses on large lots only works if the automobile is the primary form of transportation.

[mendelman]

Originally Posted by ParkerP

Do you guys think that if gas prices get utterly outrageous, that gentrification will occur even faster? Particularly on the south side of the city? I mean its already happening but do you think gas prices will cause the rate that its happening to spike severely?

For the South Side, I only see it helping the neighborhoods with good access to the Loop or suburban employment centers or neighborhoods that have a large amount of jobs already.

South Side neighborhoods like Roseland, Gage Park, etc may have a longer road ahead of them for gentrification because they are kinda isolated.

I actually believe the West Side will probably benefit the most because of easy access to the Oak Brook area job center via I-290 and very easy (2 L lines, 1 Metra) access to the Loop.

I'll have to read that Time article soon. I've always held the position that gentrification is most always a good thing. The only times it can be problematic is for low income renters that lose the more "affordable" housing when building get redeveloped or condo converted and the elderly homeowners on fixed incomes that get squeezed because the taxes rise to dramatically to the great "value" of their property and neighborhood.

But at least the elderly owner has the ability to cash in on the new higher value of their property.

[ParkerP]

Thanks for both responses. It will be interesting to watch how things turn out over the years. It will be so weird if in 20 years to hear people say "Englewood is such a great area! I let my kids play outside all the time!"

What makes me really think about this whole thing though is I just got my bill from Peoples Gas/Energy the other day and I'm part of their budget program where you pay a little more during the summer months so you won't kill yourself during the winter. My "budget" bill shot up $50 for my little home and my eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets, LOL. So I know people with bigger spaces are going to feel the pain. I'm bringing this up because I think that this + high gas prices will make neighborhoods gentrify a lot faster than anticipated.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by ParkerP

Do you guys think that if gas prices get utterly outrageous, that gentrification will occur even faster? Particularly on the south side of the city? I mean its already happening but do you think gas prices will cause the rate that its happening to spike severely?

Absolutely. There's a lot of question marks surrounding this though, including how high gas would have to go, how long it would take the housing market to react to that, and so on. Encouraging Americans to drive less, destroy less farmland for homes in distant areas, and drive more fuel efficient vehicles could actually be good things but you can still bet that our political leaders are going to try to come up with some way to lower fuel prices. Whether they will succeed or not remains to be seen. It will be an interesting next 10 years!