Negative Effects Of Gentrification

Recently, urban development has become increasingly vulnerable to the growing impact of gentrification. Our nation’s capitol, more commonly known Washington, D.C., unfortunately has been heavily affected by gentrification. Gentrification is the process of renovating and improving a house or district, so that it conforms to a certain middle-class taste. This certain exchange of private land is a continuous competing claim between public and private owners. In addition, Kathryn Howell, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University claims, “In the most recent wave of urban redevelopment, the change has been led largely by public–private partnerships in a market-driven process. … this type of redevelopment represents a perceived ‘win-win’ for

Demographics consist of statistical data relating a population and the groups of individuals within it. As previously stated, the displaced individuals tend to be African American, leading to a shift and lack of diversity in the community. The Georgetown neighborhood of Washington was one of the capital's first neighborhoods to gentrify and today it is one of the wealthiest and least-diverse neighborhoods in DC. During gentrification black residents were displaced and excluded through alley dwelling clearances, racial covenants, and market-based mechanisms (Lloyd 2014: 10). Furthermore, the inward flow of white, new young couples creates an outward flow of older, African American long time residents. In a long-run perspective, the demographic crisis provoked by gentrification can lead to the aging of the population. Where, representatives of the middle class prefer to invest in the repair of their new houses and the development of low-income and working class communities to transform them into prosperous communities. Researcher, Jonathan Jackson from the University of Maryland also finds that there has been an inequality change over the past two decades. He finds, “While the new development and affluence that have cascaded over the city are largely welcomed, they have been accompanied by abrupt changes in racial composition, with the black percentage declining from roughly 63% in 2000 to 55% in 2010, raising concern over whether this boom has improved the lives of everyone” (Jackson 2013: 356). Gentrification deteriorates the positions of the poor. Amongst this, a multitude of socioeconomic issues emerge, where the poor become poorer and unemployment becomes more