Gentrification in the Face of Redevelopment
Gentrification is a problem in major cities. It pushes people out of their homes because others move in and raise the rent. As people move into more traditionally poorer neighborhoods they price people out, and the neighborhood inevitably changes. Although gentrification can be more clear in larger cities, what happens in places where housing markets just don’t exist.
In places where there is so much need, how do you balance development with gentrification? What can be done when the first priority is to grow the city and attract more people to the city so that everyday services and living can improve?
Right now, there is an incredibly important conversation happening around gentrification. As defined by Merriam Webster, gentrification is the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents.
On its face gentrification may even seem like a good thing. People are moving to a place that is deteriorating. There is money coming into neighborhoods whose taxes can help pay for better schools and social services. But what is becoming a much more salient conversation is the fact that this displaces people who have lived in an area for generations. It can even in some cases clear out the culture that the area was so dependent on.
A perfect example of such change is Washington DC’s Chinatown. What was once a well populated area by the Chinese is now almost devoid of such businesses and culture. As Chinatown grew into Metrocenter and a major area within the city, larger businesses started moving in and raising the price of land and property in the area. This made this neighborhood no longer affordable to many Chinese identifying individuals. A neighborhood that once had a thriving Chinese population, so much so that it was defined by this congregation of people who identified this way, is now defined by the fact that Starbucks is writing in Mandarin. For me, Chinatown is little more than another area of DC except it has a lot of street signs written in Mandarin. You can even find the Mandarin translation of Potbelly’s. Now, you have to travel to Virginia or Maryland to find similar populations of Chinese people that had once existed in the heart of Washington DC.
Another important part of the conversation of gentrification is that it, like many other issues, is a problem of power. The middle class and affluent often have more power than the poor. Beyond class privilege, gentrification is often defined as a race problem. The typical gentrifer most people think of is a young, white, millennial “hipster” who “cares” about community and the environment. In order to be in a new and hip part of town, they often move to places that are rougher or “still have culture” and in return often displace the people that have created these unique spaces.
But is gentrification an issue when a housing market doesn’t even exist anymore because there are literally no comparable houses on the market?
Esther, who works and lives in Cleveland says, “Gentrification is not an issue if there wasn’t anyone there in the first place.” A common argument she hears in Cleveland is, “How is taking vacant homes and blighted houses displacing people?” Still, this is a change in the culture of the community especially as new people move in. Regardless, it is important to ask how to fill the vacancies. Esther says, “how do you fill those holes in the fabric? It is a tenuous balance, but the conversation is a bit different in other places.”
There is no easy answer to gentrification. As people begin to move to lesser known cities, it is inevitable that property values will rise. With this movement it is important to ask, is there gentrification? Will there be in the long term? Although it may not always be a priority in the moment, it is an important consideration.
This is an excerpt from my book, Millenials and the Resurgence of the American City. I hope you enjoyed this post — if you want to connect, you can reach me here via email gkim9779@gmail.com or connect with me on social: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Also, you can find my book on Amazon — here is the link to buy it: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KPCBJDR
