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I agree with most of what you said and I definitely believe that there is a middle ground. However, when cities like DC and now Detroit start to ask the private sector to invest in them the Devil is always in the details. Developers are about making money PERIOD. They do not care about Natives versus Newcomers. They don't care about neighborhood traditions or culture. Native Washingtonians have been sold out by greedy Black politicians that's the reality of it. If you truly want to make a change then it'll have to be at the ballot box.
I think you're giving government too much of a role in this process. They don't usually ask developers to come in or serve as gatekeepers. Developers go where there are income opportunities. That used to be almost entirely out on the suburban fringe. Now it's shifted back to redeveloping central areas because there's market demand for it.
Politicians can make demands about height, local workforce in construction, integrating non-market units, etc, but developers and property owners are first coming together to plan projects that they then work through the government for approval. Elected officials can nudge that process but they can't stop a property owner from redeveloping her land within the scope of the law or a family from buying and rehabbing a rowhouse, thus increasing property values near it.
Short of large-scale initiatives like stadiums or sale of government property to the private sector, like is proposed for the current Reeves Center location, the public at large is going to drive this process.
^2 you can't blame them for taking advantage of the opportunity, especially if whites are
paying double or triple the price of what they would normally have gotten from anyone else. the only question next is where else will they move after they sell.
Someone should do a study of how much wealth transfer has taken place as a result of these home sales. Given that so many of the long-time residents purchased their places in the 50s and 60s for less than $20,000, the total wealth transfer to African-Americans must be huge. It would also be interesting to know what they are doing with this wealth. For example, are they starting businesses in their new neighborhoods?
You can do a lot with a few hundred thousand. And I know from observing my neighbors, many of them were Fed Employees so they retired with genereous pensions and benefits.
^ this lady told me a few hundred thousand would not be enough to retire on really after you add up all your expenses to live comfortably for a decade or more.
Okay I am going to get into a little more detail.
1. Many of them keep the house until they die. It's not a bad thing.
2. When they do pass it goes to the estate. In order for it to stay in the family, the inheritors must reach a sharing agreement (this is very difficult), buy out the other shares from the other family members (also difficult) or sell it. Most often houses get sold. This is when people do not include a beneficiary for the house, and just split up named people for the entire estate, which is what happens most often.
3. So the houses get sold, and the money generated gets split up.
I am saying this happens no matter where one lives, and no matter the race. It's really difficult to keep the houses in ones family because of the nature of estate law.
Last edited by DistrictSonic; 02-03-2014 at 09:48 AM..
Someone should do a study of how much wealth transfer has taken place as a result of these home sales. Given that so many of the long-time residents purchased their places in the 50s and 60s for less than $20,000, the total wealth transfer to African-Americans must be huge. It would also be interesting to know what they are doing with this wealth. For example, are they starting businesses in their new neighborhoods?
You can do a lot with a few hundred thousand. And I know from observing my neighbors, many of them were Fed Employees so they retired with genereous pensions and benefits.
My husband has had some family members make off like bandits. One made almost $500k in profit, plus she still gets a nice retirement check so she is living very well. He has another family member getting ready to sell and I know he will make major $$$$. Many are moving to those 55+ communities where housing is pretty cheap. I'm sure their children will receive nice inheritances.
We all know the gentrification discussions are usually way too simplistic to be meaningful. For example, when it comes to both race and class, no one mentions one of the -- if not THE -- major reason for gentrification: black folks are choosing to sell their homes for a fortune and move. They're not being forced out; they're cashing in and loving it. I'm in an "up and coming neighborhood" and half of the African-Americans on my block seem to be selling or considering selling, and they're thrilled!
The problem with the anti-gentrification types is that they have chosen to pretend this is about race exploitation, for whatever reason, and attack the white buyers when they should be focusing their wrath at the black sellers if they don't want to change. Even many (if not nearly all) of the black renters are being forced out because black landlords are selling.
Quick question.. What neighborhood is this that you're referring to?
^ this lady told me a few hundred thousand would not be enough to retire on really after you add up all your expenses to live comfortably for a decade or more.
Most Americans will only dream of retiring on a few hundred thousand, so she either doesn't know how to manage money or expects to live the high life into retirement.
Most Americans will only dream of retiring on a few hundred thousand, so she either doesn't know how to manage money or expects to live the high life into retirement.
I guess you don't intend to answer my question?
Last edited by Nedc202; 02-03-2014 at 12:06 PM..
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