Climate gentrification

I always find Richard Florida’s work interesting (and what a great name for a geographer!). In this article, he makes a great point about gentrification in general that’s often overlooked:

It does not simply reflect the preferences and decisions of so-called gentrifiers. It is often the product of larger structural forces and major public investments.

And summarizes an academic study on yet another impact of climate change that is already being felt: climate gentrification.

It used to be that wealthy people wanted to live close to the water, but as sea levels rise due to global warming, real estate at higher elevations in at-risk areas is appreciating at a higher rate, while those at lower elevations have declined in value.

Rents are too damn high and the world is too damn hot. Both are about to make gentrification worse.

Here’s the academic paper:

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aabb32/pdf