Gentrification is actually a great thing for cities to aim for (Pittsburg: sale, real estate)

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by aslowdodge

What is it you do that contributes something meaningful to society that entitles you to live in California?
Volunteer at a soup kitchen, mentor young kids, build homes with habitat for humanity?
Or is it just that you have enough income to live there?

Nothing anyone does entitles them to live in CA.

[Angelino19]

Originally Posted by Bodybuilder91

Gentrification in California is really just balancing out the population and weeding out those who should’ve never been here to begin with. The ones complaining about being priced out should consider themselves lucky they were even alive during a time they can barely scrape by on rent. Living in one of the most desirable regions in the world was never meant to be “affordable”, and especially not cheap.

Statistics clearly prove that crime rates drop, businesses thrive more, and more people are engaged with the neighborhood when they feel more comfortable walking in the streets. This has absolutely nothing to do with race or ethnicity, gentrification is a social-economics related thing and there’s no shame in encouraging more of it. If you can’t keep up with the rat race of LA or the competitive market of the rest of California, then oh well, ethier make more money or live somewhere else like Arizona or Texas.

So many people want to move here but only few of those want to contribute something meaningful to society.

IMHO gentrification has been good for LA. But it has also given rise to a housing crisis and homelessness. Affordable housing is the key to LA's continued growth and well being. The city is smart to offer tax incentives to apartment complex developers who make 10 to 15% of their units available to lower income residents, i.e. a person of lower income could pay $800 for a 1BR unit valued at $1,500 a month. The greatest number of jobs in LA, and in most cities, are people who work in the service industry; restaurants, Cafe's, transportation, DMV, grocery stores, malls, etc. Their contributions to a cities vitality are no less important than the rich.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by Angelino19

IMHO gentrification has been good for LA. But it has also given rise to a housing crisis and homelessness. Affordable housing is the key to LA's continued growth and well being. The city is smart to offer tax incentives to apartment complex developers who make 10 to 15% of their units available to lower income residents, i.e. a person of lower income could pay $800 for a 1BR unit valued at $1,500 a month. The greatest number of jobs in LA, and in most cities, are people who work in the service industry; restaurants, Cafe's, transportation, DMV, grocery stores, malls, etc. Their contributions to a cities vitality are no less important than the rich.

The first question - which no one ever seems to ask - is: why is it important, or indeed even sane, for a city of 10 million to keep growing?

“Growth for its own sake is the ideology of a cancer cell.” - Edward Abbey

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

The first question - which no one ever seems to ask - is: why is it important, or indeed even sane, for a city of 10 million to keep growing?

“Growth for its own sake is the ideology of a cancer cell.” - Edward Abbey

But, but everyone is entitled to live where they want. What they want comes first.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by expatCA

But, but everyone is entitled to live where they want. What they want comes first.

“... and the voice inside my breast kept chanting, ‘I want, I want, I want!” - Eugene Henderson, the Rain King

[Deuterion]

Originally Posted by musicfamly5

Americas cities for a long time needed some revitalization to them. Gentrification gives a fresh breath and feel to areas that were struggling and were going to continue to struggle without renewed interest. People try to make the case against gentrification emotional (hence why they like using the term instead of something like Urban Renewal) cause it sounds like your acting against the neighborhood. It sounds harsh and nowadays drums up protesters who don't even live in an area to fight against new businesses that can actually help improve community needs or place in more housing instead of having a couple run down 2 bedroom houses in the middle of a prime location.

I get that it's "pushing" individuals out in areas that they are emotionally connected too. But at the same time the responsibility of a large city is to manage and plan for long term solutions and growth, and run down out of code buildings that only serve a small population of the neighborhood or area isn't something worth a city that has plans of bringing in tourist, accompanying businesses, and potential residences who plan on adding to the growth and wealth of the city.

People complain about displaced people and ruining "established" neighborhoods. But if the neighborhood really cared, they would have found a way to work with the growth in the first place and had sough out opportunities for themselves to make their neighborhood competitive rather then a "victim" of the changes. Plus these people have opportunities to reestablish themselves and grow stronger (in a more affordable area) somewhere else, typically somewhere better suited for their needs. The anger from losing their comfort area and unease of being somewhere new usually keeps their emotions fresh, leading to calls of unfairness. It's really no ones fault, it's just city management. It happens all the time in every city, it's just select cities that call it a crime against the poor and brand it evil. But cities don't simply live on well fare receipts and minimum wage workers; and no one want to become a Detroit which has potential but massive amount of run down buildings and empty spaces makes it impossible to even start renewal again without someone buying entire blocks to renovate. Renewal is good, those who are willing to survive will; most likely in ways much more affordable and lasting then before if they chose.

What you don’t realize is policies like redlining have stopped these communities from investing in themselves. So you have the white flight to the suburbs moving all the investment out of the downtown areas to the burbs, the banks refused to give the minorites left in the downtown areas loans and support to grow and propsper, the downtowns began rot, the whites now get tired of having to drive into the city for work, so they come back into the downtown areas they neglected, they bring the investment with them, price out all the residents in that area, and then stick their nose up at he original inhabitants because they should have done the revitalization themselves. It’s the biggest crock of horsedung...

[ObserverJC]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

“... and the voice inside my breast kept chanting, ‘I want, I want, I want!” - Eugene Henderson, the Rain King

Isn't that what it means to be Americans? Always pursuing more wants and never be satisfied.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by ObserverJC

Isn't that what it means to be Americans? Always pursuing more wants and never be satisfied.

Unfortunately, seems so. Shallow, eh?

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I hate the term "gentrification." It's very prejudiced, in my opinion, because it equals - white-ification. Think about it. What is the "gentry?" White people. And so, white, entitled people are moving into an otherwise, non-white, non-gentry (or wealthy) area.

Why should that be celebrated? Now, if those who are displaced - being non-white, non-wealthy, tenants or property owners, actually profit in a way that is willing and fair, then fine.

But, it seriously irks me when white folk start waxing poetic about gentrification, without calling it what it really is - white folk who decide they want to live where the non-white people live, and then push them out, while saying it's a great thing.

[ObserverJC]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

Unfortunately, seems so. Shallow, eh?

Not really, since humans are driven by desire as well as survival instinct. The problem is our consumerism-oriented culture made too strong a connection between possession and happiness, so here we have a growth so strong it is near unsustainable.