The Effects of Gentrification in American Cities

The topic of gentrification is a contentious one where a large portion of society hold strong clashing viewpoints about it.

Gentrification is the process of investors, business folk and overall wealthier people that buy, renovate and move into the once deteriorated urban neighborhoods there once were.

The consequences that come with this is that lower income families and poorer individuals are displaced from their homes since they can’t afford the skyrocketing rent prices that are showing up in that region. The loss of affordable housing shows a domino effect that works against the poorer community but also shows a number of great outcomes for the ones that are able to stay.

Main reason why I wanted to cover this topic is because it involves important issues of today’s world. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, gentrification encompasses the economy, health and crime, and social issues that in the end is what makes or breaks a successful community. And when it comes to issues like these, I can see and associate myself with the less fortunate minorities groups who prevalently experience these problems more commonly.

By covering the topic gentrification and the effects it has to the cities of America, I will be guided by these three questions throughout the story map: What are the advantages and disadvantages that arise from it? What are some prime city examples of it in the U.S.? And how are communities responding to it?

Chong, Emily. “Examining the Negative Impacts of Gentrification.” September 17, 2017, Georgetown Law.  www.law.georgetown.edu/poverty-journal/blog/examining-the-negative-impacts-of-gentrification/ .

Ms. Chong sets clear that gentrification brings about more harmful consequences than positive ones. She mentions that society must recognize these disproportionate and destructive effects of gentrification, including the forced displacement of low-income individuals and people of color. The discriminatory behavior being done by the people in power are exponentially increasing the property prices, being coercive, and buying-out the owner’s mortgage/debt as an incentive for them to move out. Ms. Chong’s ends up saying that these manipulative tactics are the clear reason why there should be government regulation and policies to place a stop to the dismantling and displacement of lower-income communities.

• Displacement through rent/price increase
• Loss of affordable housing
• Community conflict
• Homelessness
• Loss of social diversity
• Housing demand on surrounding poorer areas

What I myself have been able to capture from Ms. Chong’s article is that the negative impacts can clearly outweigh the positive ones if there isn’t a stop to the discriminatory power arising in the commercial and residential housing market. Not only is this an economical problem that targets the weak and unstable families, but can lead into even bigger problems like loss of social diversity, community conflict, and even homelessness. I come to believe that if there weren’t widespread displacement, shifts in the neighborhood were carefully planned with the community’s input and involvement, then gentrification would be a good thing for the community.

Brummet, Quentin and Reed, David. "The Effects of Gentrification on the Well-Being and Opportunity of Original Resident Adults and Children." July 2019, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.  https://www.philadelphiafed.org/community-development/housing-and-neighborhoods/the-effects-of-gentrification-on-the-well-being-and-opportunity-of-original-resident .

Mr. Brummet, a NORC at the University of Chicago, and Mr. Reed, who works for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, thoroughly cover in their study the positive effects of gentrification that have on the original resident adults and children. Their study showed that gentrification only “modestly increases out-migration, while the neighborhood change is driven primarily by changes to in-migration.” What is also commonly agreed with in this topic is that original property homeowners will benefit from holding onto their home as the poverty exposure declines. While children also “benefit from the increased exposure to higher-opportunity neighborhoods, where many are more likely to attend and complete college.”

• Reduction in crime
• New job opportunities emerge
• Higher baseline of salary on average
• Higher education
• Reversing the decades of urban decline
• Higher incentive for homeowners to stay as they can benefit from the rising property value

After reading and skimming over the intensive but informative study, I got to understand and place myself in the shoes of the residents who have been there since the start. Seeing rich and majority white folks move into your neighborhood while being a minority can give you a distasteful first impression to them. Same might go the other way around. In the end, we are people of error and may not have enough self-control to get around the prejudice we may come across to. But what I was able to capture from this flawless report is that gentrification can totally work for the overall majority’s favor. It’s a win-win. Certainly, there will be the less fortunate families and individuals who will end up grabbing the short end of the stick, undergoing the trials and tribulations of displacement and housing un-affordability, but with the right amount of sacrifice and perseverance would you be able to provide your children the boundless amount of opportunities that may arise from staying close to the urban metropolis.

UC Berkeley’s Urban Displacement Project and the California Housing Partnership. "Rising Housing Costs and Re-Segregation in the San Francisco Bay Area." 2019, Urban Displacement Project.  https://www.urbandisplacement.org/sites/default/files/images/bay_area_re-segregation_rising_housing_costs_report_2019.pdf .

The key findings of this report showed that from the years 2000 to 2015, as the housing prices rose in the Bay area, historically Black, Latinx, and Asian neighborhoods lost thousands of low-income households. These neighborhoods and cities, that once were large traditional immigrant communities, has since been on a drastic decline. Statistics showed that 53% of low-income Black households lived in high-poverty, segregated neighborhoods in 2015, up from 38% in 2000. For the Latinx community, this has since then nearly doubled to 31%! Result of this common tragedy is that families face greater barriers to economic mobility and are more likely to suffer adverse health outcomes. What was also found was the disparities in access to higher resource neighborhoods were more pronounced between racial groups than between income groups of the same race.

This study overall made me realize the true and ugly nature of how gentrification can disproportionately affect the minorities drastically. From my own references in life, I can agree to the fact that many are displaced to the outskirts of the urban city, being placed further away from all the resources and jobs that they once possessed more easily. This could mean more commuting hours, which I am one to testify as I myself live all the way on the east edge of Portland, Multnomah County, adding more time and opportunities to get in a car accident and also less time I can use for being at home or doing stuff I love. This also leads to many health implications and issues, which for us minorities and low-income individuals don’t already have a great standing and relationship with.

New York University's CUSP team. "Mapping Displacement and Gentrification in the New York Metropolitan Area." 2016, Urban Displacement Project.  https://www.urbandisplacement.org/maps/ny .

Research Director, Dr. Karen Chapple from NYU’s Center for Urban Science and Progress shows us that the metropolis is thriving in all its regions, but also neighborhoods are experiencing all sorts and forms of displacement. The wages of the low-income residents have not been able to keep pace with the acceleration of housing prices and neither have housing policies as well. Data gathered shows that “in 2016, over one third of low-income households lived in low-income neighborhoods at risk of or already experiencing displacement and gentrification pressures, comprising 24% of the New York metro area’s census tracts… Totaling over 1.1. million low-income households.”

New York City has been notorious for the rise in living expenses as they also try to fight all the crime and over population they’ve been having over the last recent years. What this source has left me to understand even more is of another prime example of a city in the U.S. that has suffers to provide the resources and help to the less fortunate demographics. Reading about the Old York not being the same to today’s York, and how communities and neighborhoods have begun to become more divided and lost, especially in the present world where we are distanced and also terrified of the rising crime in metropolitans like NYC.

Yoshiko, Lauren. "In New Documentary 'Priced Out,' A North Portland Resident Explains Why She’s No Longer Pro-Gentrification." December 13, 2017, Willamette Weekly.  https://www.wweek.com/arts/movies/2017/12/13/in-new-documentary-priced-out-a-north-portland-resident-explains-why-shes-no-longer-pro-gentrification/ .

Swart, Cornelius. "Priced Out: 15 Years of Gentrification in Portland, Oregon." 2017, YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMZYiv_jf2U .

Portland documentary, Priced Out, was directed and narrated by Cornelius Swart who depicts the drastic change of the past two decades of North Portland. It does an overview of the gentrification while also digging deeper into the history of the neighborhoods, including Nikki Williams’. After watching around half of the documentary, and also reading on Lauren Yoshiko’s take on the Willamette Week, I see that it revolves around the lives of the original residents. After being asked what the word gentrification meant to the residents, one recalled the feelings of pain, loss, and grief. Anna, Nikki’s daughter, believed that the new incoming white folks and hipsters were oblivious to the history these neighborhoods possessed for the Black community. “They don’t care what once was.” As this documentary serves as the sequel to NorthEast Passage 15 years later, in the first doc, Nikki believed that gentrification would help in the safety of herself and daughter. She believed that it would take the “gang-banging” and “drugs” off the streets. Well, 15 years later and we are shown that there’s Nikki now regrets her decision and the manner her wishes were realized.

This source was along the first ones I came across when I had the idea of making my story map about Portland and their homelessness/housing issues. Then I came across gentrification, which I’ve of before but never placed enough thought to the topic. After reading about Yoshiko’s article and taking a worthwhile to watch some of the documentary, I wanted to learn more about the topic as a whole, taking me to where we are now, talking about the overall effects’ gentrification has in American cities and neighborhoods like Albina. Nikki, the protagonist of the doc, who is an Albina Avenue resident who regrets the way crime was taken off the streets. 15 years ago, from the release date of the doc, she didn’t care to pay enough mind to how gentrification came to be, she just wanted it to be done because she knew that would improve the safety of her then 11-year-old daughter, Anna. Now up to date, I can see why she is disappointed in the way it was accomplished. Just with what Ms. Chong, our first source we talked about, said, gentrification can be a good thing if it’s done strategically and morally, and I can now totally agree and understand what both of these sources meant.

Davies, Jessica. "Participatory Democracy Drives Anti-Gentrification Movement in New York’s El Barrio." April 16, 2016, TruthOut.  https://truthout.org/articles/participatory-democracy-drives-anti-gentrification-movement-in-new-york-s-el-barrio/ .

15 immigrant families from an area known as El Barrio in East Harlem, New York, came together to seek dignified housing in their community. Situation arouse of a private landlord who was trying to force them out of their homes in order to attract wealthier tenants and transform the neighborhood they lived in and loved. The women who were all behind this movement attracted regional news and aspired what they hoped for at the start of it, attention. “We believe that those who suffer injustice firsthand must design and lead their own struggles for justice.” The basis of the Movement’s organization was by going to door-to-door, block-by-block, and form relationships and committees who are also willing to take action under their common struggles.

I see countless of articles and pictures of affected residents protesting for their right to obtain affordable housing on the news and while doing this project over the last few days. I could see the effects taking a toll to minority groups and low-income individuals and can see myself and my family feeling sorrow for those who are struggling in these American cities and even across the world. I knew people were responding to gentrification with peaceful protest on the streets of these metropolitan urban cities, but when reading across the Movement for Justice in El Barrio, it hit home knowing that there were indigenous minorities having them pinned in the corner and not knowing what to do. Seeing that a group of 15 families, all women, no men present, shows the drive and commitment to show the rest of the country of this ongoing problem. You can’t lie to yourself that gentrification isn’t a thing, these types of gatherings and anti-gentrification like the Harlem one has also spark many other communities to do the same. Cereal Killer Café protest in East London, San Francisco tech bus protests, and ink! Coffee protest at Denver, Colorado.

Wikipedia. "Gentrification; Control" & "Gentrification in the United States."  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentrification#Control  &  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentrification_in_the_United_States .

The page/topic of gentrification on Wikipedia was a respectable analysis to the whole story what it contains. Focusing on the control topic for this annotation, I see expected similarities when it comes to combating gentrification. As mention on the previous source as well, residents should formally organize themselves to “develop the necessary socio-political strategies required to retain local affordable housing.” I would think that this is probably the most effective way to go against gentrification and any other social political issue affecting a widespread of individuals. Being able to congregate and make each other’s voices heard even louder would to the folks at the White House. Aside from the peaceful route to control the rising discriminatory housing prices, Wikipedia also comes to mention other unconventional methods to combat gentrification in one’s city and neighborhood. There said to also be direct action and sabotages that many come to participate in. These acts range from vandalism to riots just like the ones we’ve been seeing in the past year here in Portland and across the nation.

What I come to think about the displacement and the many other cons that come with gentrification is that there has to be more political movement and power behind the people being most affected by it. Of course, it isn’t of such high priority for politicians since they get to go back to their lovely wife or husband, take vacations and not worry about it for the rest of their day. But the people at the front of this warfare aren’t able to lay their minds in rest knowing well sure that they could be evicted the next day for missing on house and rent payments and harassed by their landlord and incoming folks. Just like all of my previous sources have come into play, there are many different and healthy ways to get to the top of the mountain where almost everyone would benefit. We just got to let the people affected by gentrification have the voice to spread it to everyone else. This would allow for greater access for affordable homes to these crucial demographics of each city in the states.

After learning thoroughly about what gentrification was and how it affected not only the widespread country and globe, but also myself and my surrounding love ones, it made me want to wake up and provide my own due diligence to this societal issue. Not only does gentrification affect more commonly the minorities of this nation, but they also are left behind in the dark with no help to provide them with. I could see disproportionate issues like gentrification affect more of my kind more and more in the future, and if we don’t have a set general plan and overview of this prominent issue, then we would keep on discrediting the hard working and unlucky people of this nation and their generations as well. With all means necessary, we need if not immediate action plans, especially in times like today.

During chapter 7 on the topic of Cities & Urbanization, we discussed about location and the sense of belonging to your city. In that section we also briefly talked about gentrification and how public spaces are “supposed to be ‘a place accessible to all citizens, for their use of enjoyment’ (Jackson, 1974).” I came to see that in order for everyone to be comfortable with their selves and not have to be worried about being harassed or abused in their town and community, you would have to have corrective government structures and policies in order to keep the community in check and not have groups have more power and control over the others. Hence, gentrification.

Gentrification and the concept of urbanization plays a significant role with one another. In order to tackle a vast and complex topic like gentrification, you would have to also have to bring other related topics and ideas in order to balance out the playing field. When reading over the chapter on Cities & Urbanization, I had a greater sense of knowledge and delicateness to talk about a topic so controversial and contentious.

I can confidently say that gentrification brings a heck of a lot of more negatives and cons to society than good ones, at the moment at least. We need to stop the immorally exponential rise of house prices and rent targeted onto the low-income vulnerable families and individuals in urban areas of this country. We need their voices to be heard and acted upon by. I believe that if we were to have structured policies and regulation on the housing market would gentrification only carry the great things that in brings along with. More opportunities can be shared equally demographically, and low-income families can get even more closer to the ever far-reaching American dream there is in the present day U.S., where everything is becoming more expensive and is even pinning down the White community.