Gentrification is one of the many factors that can have a great impact on small urban areas. In the 21st century we can now see the drastic change a community has gone through. It may be seen as a positive change for those who benefit from it, but for other it may deeply affect them. Since the last century, areas like Long Beach and Hawthorne have gone through cultural changes. Making those who have been the majority have been “kicked” out from where they have lived for years. In the coming years, rent may increase along with the mortgages, cultural rates. New shops, or other buildings may appear “washing” the community that was once unknown and untouched by outsiders. By seeing the change in communities as such, there should be a solution …show more content…
as to how to prevent the changes. In the past years, cultures that have dominated communities that are prone to gentrification have slowly left throughout the years. According to Urban Displacement, in 1990, the majority in Inglewood have been people of color. By 2013, the percentage has gone down, now more communities are becoming diverse, bringing in new cultures. More whites and asians have been drawn in to the area where low income families have been living in for years. In other words, with new cultures coming into the area, the higher the rent is going to get. This will deeply affect those who have low-income and can’t afford to pay. Due to the increase of mortgages/rents, low income family are being “kicked” out. “According to an April 2014 analysis by Zillow Real Estate Research, between 2000 and 2014 median household income rose 25%, while rents increased by nearly 53%.” (Rao 1). Low income families are the ones that are deeply affected by the changes going on around them. Smaller cities are becoming popular bringing in a large crowd of different. “Like Long Beach, Inglewood, and Hawthorne, more cultures and higher rates are being introduced; residents of inner city areas are being moved out of neighbourhoods that they have lived in for years.” (Source 1). Renters are also the ones deeply affected when their neighborhood get gentrified. Source 5 mentions, “No one is more vulnerable to the effects of gentrification than renters. When prices go up, tenants are pushed out, whether through natural turnover, rent hikes, or evictions. When buildings are sold, buyers often evict the existing tenants to move in themselves, combine several units, or bring in new tenants at a higher rate. When residents own their homes, they are less vulnerable, and may opt to "cash them in" and move elsewhere.” When a low-value area turns into a high-value place, the increase of homelessness rises.
Homelessness has increased due to the fact that rent/mortgage has sparked. “It forces them out of affordable housing. Gentrification is great, until it becomes such a force that it raises rents and forces the homeless out of areas where they're able to survive. They're forced to find other places to stay, leading to overcrowding and more visible areas of homelessness in other areas of the city, which leads to neighborhood and business complaints, which leads to arrests and tactics to remove or harass the homeless who are just trying to stay alive.” (Source 4) Gentrification has been seen as social problem in smaller neighborhoods, small community activist have been thrashing the new places that have been introduced, hoping it will stop gentrification. “In Boyle Heights, many activists have been trashing the art galleries that have been opening in their neighborhood” (Chang 1). Other may argue that gentrification isn’t a bad thing at all, that it is actually helping the community. Without gentrification, people wouldn’t receive public help, of anything that might help/support them. If you want to see what happens without gentrification, look at cities like Flint and Detroit, where the flight of the middle class deprives cities of tax revenue, makes them into hellholes with minimal public services, thus encouraging suburbs to wall off the cities in as many ways as possibles.” (Source 5). Retaliation is also another problem that is resulting from gentrification. “People are protective of both the locations and the ways that they live. So when a wave of gentrification appears, many existing residents will become upset when presented with changes to either aspect. If say, the area has been declared a historical neighborhood after some rehabilitation, that means new rules and laws exist to keep a certain aesthetic throughout the area, which means residents who perhaps can’t afford
the changes or repairs necessary to remain in compliance can be held legally responsible for the disparities, potentially racking up fines, court fees, and for renters, face eviction. So residents may feel compelled to retaliate (or sometimes make the first strike) with protests, vandalism, and arson. This can lead to not only dangerous situations, but police and fire department fatigue and indifference, leaving little protection from the law for either side.” (Source 5) Gentrification isn’t bad for those who benefit from it. People that are constructing new buildings in urban areas are the ones benefiting from gentrification. “There isn’t much one can do about ‘hijacked’ buildings, admittedly. But most buildings have an owner who is more than likely charging rent to the occupants, and who presumably wants to make some kind of a return on their investment. It seems sensible that such building owners would be happy to provide a reasonable standard of accommodation for regularly-paying tenants.” (Source 4). Homeowners of will try to inflate the prices of the home where an low income family may live. “[...] rent-control situations may arise to help alleviate such concerns, but more often than not landlords will find ways to tack on extra fees or use intimidation tactics to get long-established tenants to move, allowing them to rent the same space for much more money to someone considered more desirable, i.e. second-wave gentrifiers” (Source 4). However, there are some neighborhoods that don’t qualify for gentrification. “According to Urban Displacement, small communities that are in the gentrifying cities must have certain requirements in order to be gentrified.” (Source 1). The point is, gentrification can be viewed in two ways. What we are trying to prove is that gentrification affects the majority of a small community. That is also why the percentages in homelessness has increased. With the information provided, it should give you an idea of what gentrification is and the possible consequences that come after it.
“Gentrification is a general term for the arrival of wealthier people in an existing urban district, a related increase in rents and property values, and changes in the district's character and culture.” (Grant) In layman’s terms, gentrification is when white people move to a black neighborhood for the sake of cheaper living, and in turn, raise up property values and force black neighbors to leave because of a higher price of living. Commonly, the government supports gentrification with the demolition of public housing in areas that are developing with more white neighbors. This is causing a decreasing amount of African Americans to be able to afford to live in the neighborhood as their homes are taken away from them, forcing them to relocate. Whilst gentrification normally has negative connotations, there are several people who believe gentrification brings about “an upward trend in property values in previously neglected neighborhoods.” (Jerzyk) On the other hand, this new trend in property value and business causes those...
Another noteworthy urban sociologist that’s invested significant research and time into gentrification is Saskia Sassen, among other topical analysis including globalization. “Gentrification was initially understood as the rehabilitation of decaying and low-income housing by middle-class outsiders in central cities. In the late 1970s a broader conceptualization of the process began to emerge, and by the early 1980s new scholarship had developed a far broader meaning of gentrification, linking it with processes of spatial, economic and social restructuring.” (Sassen 1991: 255). This account is an extract from an influential book that extended beyond the field of gentrification and summarizes its basis proficiently. In more recent and localized media, the release the documentary-film ‘In Jackson Heights’ portrayed the devastation that gentrification is causing as it plagues through Jackson Heights, Queens. One of the local businessmen interviewed is shop owner Don Tobon, stating "We live in a
There are many examples of cities reforming itself over time, one significant example is Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. More than a hundred years after the discovery of gold that drew thousands of migrants to Vancouver, the city has changed a lot, and so does one of its oldest community: Downtown Eastside. Began as a small town for workers that migrants frequently, after these workers moved away with all the money they have made, Downtown Eastside faced many hardships and changes. As a city, Vancouver gave much support to improve the area’s living quality and economics, known as a process called gentrification. But is this process really benefiting everyone living in Downtown Eastside? The answer is no. Gentrification towards DTES(Downtown Eastside) did not benefit the all the inhabitants of the area. Reasons are the new rent price of the area is much higher than before the gentrification, new businesses are not community-minded, and the old culture and lifestyle of the DTES is getting erased by the new residents.
This text also persuades readers about how race is an issue of gentrification. The author’s claims on the issues show that gentrification is mainly influenced by race and income. The writer wrote the text also to show how the media can be influential to be discouraging poor colored communities, criticizing the views on gentrification in those areas. There are some persuasive appeals that are supported by the author in the text. The first is Ethos, he is a credible source in his claims retelling his own experience as a paramedic and how his patient impacted his criticism on how the media portrays the “hood” as being atrocious and worthless in the community. The author also attempts to convince his readers through his own emotions, including specific evidence and claims for his appeals. The second persuasive appeal used is pathos when he explains how these communities are dealt with moving place to place being invaded from their own residence and businesses. The third persuasive appeals he presents is logos, which he describes the situation of the the people being affected by this issue first hand to show the reader it is a mistaken
Furthermore, he attempts to dispel the negative aspects of gentrification by pointing out how some of them are nonexistent. To accomplish this, Turman exemplifies how gentrification could positively impact neighborhoods like Third Ward (a ‘dangerous’ neighborhood in Houston, Texas). Throughout the article, Turman provides copious examples of how gentrification can positively change urban communities, expressing that “gentrification can produce desirable effects upon a community such as a reduced crime rate, investment in the infrastructure of an area and increased economic activity in neighborhoods which gentrify”. Furthermore, he opportunistically uses the Third Ward as an example, which he describes as “the 15th most dangerous neighborhood in the country” and “synonymous with crime”, as an example of an area that could “need the change that gentrification provides”.
Vancouver is not affordable to live for the young professionals due to gentrification problems. The economy requires gentrification to develop the city. In order for a city to flow better, more people have to spend and sell. Furthermore, for people to spend or sell more, it requires more people to live. However, gentrification is pushing people away from their homes, and makes it difficult for the young professionals to move in. Therefore, a lot of young professionals and working class would move out and live outside the city.
... motivation for wealthy individuals to return to the inner-city core but it also provides impetus for commercial and retail mixed-use to follow, increasing local revenue for cities (Duany, 2001). Proponents of gentrification profess that this increase in municipal revenue from sales and property taxes allows for the funding of city improvements, in the form of job opportunities, improved schools and parks, retail markets and increased sense of security and safety ((Davidson (2009), Ellen & O’Reagan (2007), Formoso et. al (2010)). Due to the increase in housing and private rental prices and the general decrease of the affordable housing stock in gentrifying areas, financially-precarious communities such as the elderly, female-headed households, and blue-collar workers can no longer afford to live in newly developed spaces ((Schill & Nathan (1983), Atkinson, (2000)).
Gentrification is defined as the process by which the wealthy or upper middle class uproot poorer individuals through the renovation and rebuilding of poor neighborhoods. Many long-term residents find themselves no longer able to afford to live in an area, where the rent and property values are increasing. Gentrification is a very controversial topic, revealing both the positive and negative aspects of the process. Some of the more desirable outcomes include reduced crime rate, increased economic activity, and the building of new infrastructures. However, it is debated whether the negatives overwhelm the positive. An increase in the number of evictions of low-income families, often racial minorities can lead to a decline of diversity
In discussions of Gentrification, one controversial issue has been with displacement. Gentrification is the process of renovating and repairing a house or district so that it complies to wealthier residents (Biro, 2007, p. 42). Displacement is a result of gentrification, and is a major issue for lower income families. Gentrification is causing lower-income residents to move out of their apartments because they’re being displaced by upper class residents who can afford high rent prices and more successful businesses. Throughout out the essay, I will discuss how gentrification affects lower income residents and how it results in displacement. Then I will follow on by discussing some positive and negative effects that take place because of Gentrification.
There are many components that contribute to the homelessness in America. Neoliberalism and capitalism are very important contributors to discuss. Under these practices lies multiple factors that not only perpetuate, but also maintain homelessness. In a neoliberal era, there’s a shift of deregulating and privatizing public spheres/programs and move it under the authority of private and individual entities. This includes the lack of support and funding in access to affordable housing, employment, income, public health, and other public assistance. Neoliberalism, poverty, and capitalism has play a key role in sustaining the unequal distribution of wealth and resources among people, which has resulted folks in losing their sense of self.
Gentrification is described as the renovation of certain neighborhoods in order to accommodate to young workers and the middle-class. For an area to be considered gentrified, a neighborhood must meet a certain median home value and hold a percentage of adults earning Bachelor’s degree. Philadelphia’s gentrification rate is among the top in the nation; different neighborhoods have pushed for gentrification and have seen immense changes as a result. However, deciding on whether or not gentrification is a beneficial process can become complicated. Various groups of people believe that cities should implementing policy on advancing gentrification, and others believe that this process shouldn’t executed. Both sides are impacted by the decision to progress gentrification; it is unclear of the true implications of completely renovating impoverished urban areas; gentrification surely doesn’t solve all of a community’s issues. I personally believe that gentrification is not necessarily a good or bad process; gentrification should occur as a natural progression of innovative economies and novel lifestyles collide within certain areas. Policy involving gentrification should not support the removal of people out of their neighborhood for the sake of advancement.
Homelessness is not a disease. It is not a virus, not a condition, nor bacteria. Homelessness is a state where a person does not have a permanent residential. This includes people who live in shelters, motels and on the streets. They do not have homes because of the rising prices of housing. In New York City alone, 61,931 people are homeless as of September 2016. This is an epidemic in New York, not because of the sheer number of homeless people, but because of the lack of support from the local government. Homeless people are ignored by citizens, attacked by youth and abused by police officers. The New York Police Department even instituted Move Along Policy where homeless people who are idle for too long are forced to move their locations. This could be sitting on a bench for too long or falling asleep in a train station. So displaced citizens are not only homeless, but they are not allowed to reside in familiar locations without fear of being harassed by policemen. The youth of New York City find entertainment in harming homeless people. They would attack them, throwing bottles at them, hitting them, in hopes of knocking them unconcious. And these homeless people who do not have jobs often ask for money in the streets. And people just walk past them without even bothering with them. Because
Lance Freeman tackles the issue of gentrification from the perspectives of residents in the gentrified neighborhood. He criticizes the literature for overlooking the experiences of the victims of gentrification. The author argues that people’s conceptions on the issue are somewhat misinformed in that most people consider it as completely deplorable, whereas in reality, it benefits the community by promoting businesses, different types of stores, and cleaner streets. These benefits are even acknowledged by many residents in the gentrified neighborhood. However, the author admits that gentrification indeed does harm. Although gentrification does not equate to displacement per se, it serves to benefit primarily homeowners and harm the poor. Additionally,
Gentrification is the keystone for the progression of the basic standards of living in urban environments. A prerequisite for the advancement of urban areas is an improvement of housing, dining, and general social services. One of the most revered and illustrious examples of gentrification in an urban setting is New York City. New York City’s gentrification projects are seen as a model for gentrification for not only America, but also the rest of the world. Gentrification in an urban setting is much more complex and has deeper ramifications than seen at face value. With changes in housing, modifications to the quality of life in the surrounding area must be considered as well. Constant lifestyle changes in a community can push out life-time
Gentrification is a highly important topic that has not only been occurring all over the United States, but especially closer than we may have thought. San Francisco is home to hundreds of thousands of people who have been a part of how amazing this city has become. San Francisco is one of the most visited places in the world with many of its famous landmarks, endless opportunities not only for daytime fun but also has an amazing nightlife that people cannot get enough of. People come for a great time and could not be done without the help of the people who have grown up to experience and love this city for what it truly is. The cost of living in such an important city has definitely had its affect of lower income San Francisco residents. For decades we have seen changes occurring in parts of San Francisco where minorities live. We have seen this in Chinatown, SOMA, Fillmore district, and especially the Mission district.