Is gentrification all that bad?? (crime, market, schools, class)

[City_boi]

I'm not trying to offend anyone or be rude and inconsiderate, but gentrification isn't all bad, right? Don't get me wrong, I totally understand the problem of the area being gentrified becoming more expensive and therefore forcing many of the original residents elsewhere. But, you can't really stop people from choosing to move to that area. It's just how the market works. And plus, the neighborhood becomes a whole lot nicer. I mean, who wants to be in an area that is rundown and very unsafe?

I'm very sorry if I sound rude or ignorant, but that is why I am making this thread. Maybe I don't know enough about gentrification and you can help me understand it and get rid of my ignorance on the subject.

Anyway, thanks for your imput!

[tulips4you2]

Originally Posted by City_boi

I'm not trying to offend anyone or be rude and inconsiderate, but gentrification isn't all bad, right? Don't get me wrong, I totally understand the problem of the area being gentrified becoming more expensive and therefore forcing many of the original residents elsewhere. But, you can't really stop people from choosing to move to that area. It's just how the market works. And plus, the neighborhood becomes a whole lot nicer. I mean, who wants to be in an area that is rundown and very unsafe?

I'm very sorry if I sound rude or ignorant, but that is why I am making this thread. Maybe I don't know enough about gentrification and you can help me understand it and get rid of my ignorance on the subject.

Anyway, thanks for your imput!

I have no clue what gentrification is.

[buzzpost]

Originally Posted by tulips4you2

I have no clue what gentrification is.

Gentrification - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[JR_C]

IMO, if a neighborhood has been stable for a long time, with lots of long-time residents, then gentrification is bad. (i.e. an old neighborhood that had mostly working class folks who are pushed out by yuppies who "discovered" how great the neighborhood was) But, if a neighborhood has become unstable and has declined in recent years, then I see no problem with gentrification. (i.e. a neighborhood where property values have fallen, allowing slumlords--and the problems associated with them--to move in.)

[tpk-nyc]

There are waves of gentrification. It usually starts with artists, students and gay men. Then there is a wave of younger, hip professionals. Then the mainline professionals (yuppies). In extreme cases, like SoHo in New York City, they are followed by celebrities and the super rich. The question becomes: Who is displacing whom?

Often the loudest protests are from the people in the middle of the gentrification chain, not the people at the bottom.

[JR_C]

Originally Posted by tpk-nyc

There are waves of gentrification. It usually starts with artists, students and gay men. Then there is a wave of younger, hip professionals. Then the mainline professionals (yuppies). In extreme cases, like SoHo in New York City, they are followed by celebrities and the super rich. The question becomes: Who is displacing whom?

Often the loudest protests are from the people in the middle of the gentrification chain, not the people at the bottom.

Your post made me think of this article from The Onion:
Report: Nation's Gentrified Neighborhoods Threatened By Aristocratization | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

[Billiam]

Originally Posted by JR_C

IMO, if a neighborhood has been stable for a long time, with lots of long-time residents, then gentrification is bad. (i.e. an old neighborhood that had mostly working class folks who are pushed out by yuppies who "discovered" how great the neighborhood was) But, if a neighborhood has become unstable and has declined in recent years, then I see no problem with gentrification. (i.e. a neighborhood where property values have fallen, allowing slumlords--and the problems associated with them--to move in.)

I'd agree with this definitely

[eek]

gentrification can alter the culture of the entire city.
gentrification displaces residents that are born and raised.

f gentrification.

[Billiam]

In other words, F change in general?

[Ben Around]

Gentrification is but one stage of city develoment. In many older Midwestern and Northeastern cities, neighborhoods were "de-gentrified" as stable middle class neighborhoods went downhill when housing pressures for new arrivals to the city started a cycle of absentee landlords buying up homes and renting them out to the city's new arrivals. As the neighborhoods began experiencing increased crime (or perception of increased crime), the rental properties deteriorated physically and the neighborhood schools began to enroll greater numbers of troubled students, people with financial means to move did so, creating a downward spiral until the neighborhood hits rock bottom. At that point, it often languishes for years, or is razed and replaced by something else. But if the housing stcok is till good, and it is close to amenities, convenient to jobs, etc., redevelopers move in, start fixing up, property values start to increase and the middle class moves back in (i.e., "gentrification"). It's neither good nor bad, it's like a force of nature. It does have the negative effect of pushing out the people who settled the area during its downward trend, but that's one of those things we have to put up with as long as we cling to a relatively unfettered capitalistic economic system.