Gentrification All Bad Justin Davidson Summary

On a normal scale, measuring the association between two subjects, one would assume gentrification and segregation are not related in any sense. In fact, most would argue that school segregation ended in 1954 with the case Brown v. Board of Education. This assumption would be incorrect. Deep within the American society lies a new kind of segregation that is neither talked about nor dealt with. This paper argues that segregation is a result of gentrification—the buying and renovation of houses in deteriorated neighborhoods by upper-income families or individuals—thus, improving property values but often displacing low-income families. It is this displacement that causes economic segregation in cities like Cleveland, Ohio and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. However, if the meaning of gentrification is changed, and policies are changed to make sure the upper-income families and the underprivileged are able to live together in the same communities,

There has to be a realistic solution that can be put into motion to benefit everyone involved. Referring again to his article “Is Gentrification All Bad?” Davidson argues that urban renewal, if done right, is not a monstrous custom that it is painted to be; nevertheless, he reasons that gentrification depends on who does it, how they do it, and why they do it. As a resident in New York, a city where gentrification is as widespread as the common cold in winter, Davidson speculates that those who go into a neighborhood with the intention to renovate houses, or abandoned buildings ought to have a good reason for it. The author points out that “Gentrification does not have to be something that one group inflicts on another…” (Davidson, 2014), rather, he suggests that everyone, the gentrifiers and the locals, be on the same page when it comes to developing their