Urban decay is an issue in the United States and will cause the act of gentrification. Urban decay is current in most, if not all, inner cities of the United States. Middle and upper class avoid traveling around downtown cities in their state because they do not feel safe. Government and private markets are implementing gentrification to decaying urban areas. The positive effect of gentrification is that there will be a renovation of buildings and local businesses. This is a controversy because these renovations will be create a higher property and push out local businesses to implement new businesses to appeal gentrified citizens; ultimately, targeting the lower class by displacing them. “The Search for Marvin Gardens” by John McPhee and “Gentrification …show more content…
The Search for Marvin Gardens does claim the culture and race inside Atlantic City. The socio-economic standard in Atlantic City is the low class and criminals. McPhee says that there are six African Americans, laughing, and a Caucasian asleep in red sneakers. She is intoxicated. The others are dealers, hookers, car burglar, and thief found with a handgun (18). The majority ethnicity in lower class societies is populated with African Americans. The population inside Atlantic City is frightening to most middle to upper class Americans. The major decaying cities are primarily populated with blacks because of the standard of living. In fact, Harlem is comparable because it is one of the largest comprised of the working class and poor residents of African Americans. People classify Harlem as the ghetto. It is also the image of the birth of the Black Panthers. “96 percent of Central Harlem residents are black” (Schaffer and Smith 351). Gentrification consequently will displace blacks living in that location. Some could look at gentrification as targeting African American. Atlantic City and Harlem will have a hard time to be gentrified because of the clash of cultures. Current occupants will not accept new cultures coming in and pushing out older …show more content…
Both cities are experiencing urban decay. As infrastructure continuously deteriorates, the cost of living decreases. The solution to decaying urban areas is to renovate infrastructure and rehabilitate the society as whole. The socio-economical culture mostly consists of lower class African Americans. The culture is more inclined to commit crimes because of their economical standard. Early studies claimed that there might be a single digit percentage of pre-gentrified citizens displaced in the community, possibly causing them to be homeless. Displacement of the lower class citizens is due to higher property tax housing and rental homes, which will make it unaffordable to the current residents. McPhee, Schaffer and Smith look at both situations in different point of views, which helps readers comprehend the overall issue of urban decay and gentrification. Urban decay and gentrification will affect the lower and middle to upper class in different ways. The only issue is that child-oriented families will not leave the suburbs because they have a comfortable and safe living, as well as other benefits. The solution that the government and private markets must reach is how to renovate the cities while maintaining the current residents
According to Sanneh, gentrification “at first referred to instances of new arrivals who were buying up (and building up) old housing stock, but then there was ‘new-build gentrification’. Especially in America, gentrification … white arrivals who were displacing non-white residents and taking over a ghetto” (Sanneh). As rent prices around the country continue to rise, more young people have been moving into historically, inner-city communities. Although this provides an affordable solution for incoming residents, it also leads to gentrification or the displacement of existing communities by wealthier
When a neighborhood is gentrified it will not only change the image of it, but also the services available there (Al-Kodmany 2011, 62-63). In other words, gentrification does not only have an impact on the physical aspect of the land, but also the resources that lie there. During the 90s, the Near West Side neighborhood located near Loop, an up-scale neighborhood, sought drastic changes within the area. The changes in racial demographics in the Near West Side indicated that the health risks that affected minorities dropped in the past decade (1992-2002) (Al-Kodmany 2011,
However, Wacquant brings the term “inner city” to light, breaking down its meaning: “black and poor.” Living in Chicago gives one an exemplary example of the term “inner city” meaning “poor, black ghettos.” The references to “inner city” schools being synonymous with “poor quality” and “mostly African American” are damaging to urban terminology and creating a predetermined perspective of those who call the “inner city” home. The “hypersegregation” of the city of Chicago is a topic within itself, but the institution of segregation is, without question, existent here. In addition, “inner city” is becoming a label which implies unavoidable incarceration.
The article states “that income alone cannot explain, nor would it likely end, the segregation that has defined American cities and suburbs for generations” (Eligon and Gebeloff). Wealthy African American families are seen as still living in poverty stricken areas, even with their large income salaries (Eligon and Gebeloff). Essentially, there is a larger factor that is affecting where African Americans live. The many previous years of racism and ethnic discrimination are ultimately determining the location African Americans stay. When African Americans older generations could not buy an enjoyable house and pass down their riches, the newer generations have a difficult time putting themselves in a position to buy a house in a nice neighborhood (Eligon and Gebeloff). If an African American family is fortunate enough to live in a more upscale neighborhood, they are not always accepted by the members of the community (Eligon and Gebeloff). My aunt has recently moved into a suburban, mostly white neighborhood, and I have seen this taken place first hand. Within the first few months of their move in, my aunt and her family would receive questionable looks from neighbors as if they were not welcoming their newfound neighbor. While racism from neighbors is a large factor, there is another important element of racism that takes
In “Is Gentrification All Bad” Davidson tries to convince the reader that there is a positive side to gentrification. Throughout the article davidson provides evidence and a personal example of how gentrification is a positive change for many neighborhoods by giving an example of gentrification and credible statistics.
Gentrification is a practice that cultivates social displacement. This change is revealed in the change of the neighborhoods environmental aesthetics, engrossed by the belief that a rebirth of the older city was in the making.
There has been a recent phenomenon throughout the United States of gentrification. As older parts of neighborhoods are occupied by new tenants with money, the neighborhood changes and loses its old character. Those who might have lived in those neighborhoods their entire lives are pushed out as rents begin to skyrocket and the surroundings begin to change. This has happened in many neighborhoods. One of the most well known is San Francisco, where technology companies have brought in new software engineers that have caused local rents to skyrocket and people to move out of the area. However, just as importantly has been the influx of new money to Brooklyn, where local neighborhood changes have forced people from their homes, traditional music to be replaced, and old businesses to go bankrupt.
There have been many articles published about the transformation of cities in regards to industrial improvements, communities blooming with mass migrations, and standards of living. A number of different cultures have migrated to rural and urban populations and among those mass migrations there were African Americans. Although immigrants went through hardships such as harsh living conditions and low status, they didn’t have to go through as much trouble as African Americans did. African Americans who moved into the city were not on top of the priority list to most. They were not given the time of day to their needs. Race affected these urban dwellers because of discrimination, living conditions, and inequality.
In Baltimore, the abandoned houses allowed investors to buy the houses and turn them into luxury condominiums and houses. In turn, this encourages other companies to continue to develop condominiums and houses and abandon the development of low-income housing. This cycle is called gentrification, but it is disguised as restoration to the city
First, let's start with what gentrification is. Google defines it as “the process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste”, but the image Gentrification usually evokes when brought into discussion is hipsters moving into a run-down but charming neighborhood and transforming it into something completely different. What is a hipster? Some may call them the fairy godmothers of the once neglected area, and others may refer to them as the monsters that are displacing families to make an artisan beard oil shop, but we’ll touch on that later.
I read nine article that discusses various aspects of gentrification from health issues to detreated housing condition and ethnic cleansing. In my rough draft, I thought discussing only one side of Harlem gentrification might confuse readers because all of the subjects are linked to each other. Therefore, I took main the main ideas from each of the nine articles and discussed them chronologically in my rough draft to give audience a better understanding of the series of events that shaped today’s Harlem. In doing so, I failed to follow the instructions. Thanks to Professor Poltrack’s feedback, I was able to focus on one article and discuss Harlem’s gentrification more effectively. In my final draft, I found to easier to analyze and interpret the meaning of article because I concentrated on one particular subject. Going forward, I will read the instructions carefully, underline the key points and talk to Prof Poltrack if I have any question about the
Corporations are taking over the urban landscape. In previous years, many upper and middle class families fled to the suburbs to escape the everyday hustle of city life. However, in recent years, city living has become glamorized and thus the movement back into the city has increased. Once blighted inner-city neighborhoods are being taken over and revitalized by corporate leaders in hopes to redesign and yuppify these areas. As more money is put into the area, the higher the market value goes up and as a result, many local residents can no longer afford to live there. While these residents are pushed out, a more ‘desirable’ group of residents move in and thus, take over. This process, known as gentrification, is occurring in many cities all across the nation. In the past, displaced residents could possibly move to another area that was not undergoing this process. However, as we are seeing in Chicago, it is nearing impossibility to move to an area within the city that will not
Viewing the complex matter of gentrification succinctly, it helps to uncover how multifaceted it is; in that gentrification involves the oppression, marginalization, displacement of vulnerable populations, particularly, the poor, and the black who are often already negatively impacted by the effects of classism, and racism. Gentrification threatens to erode the communities and livelihood maintained by these set of people because their displacement becomes a precondition for the total transformation of the area.
The term Gentrification was coined by a British Sociologist Ruth Glass to describe the movement of middle class families in urban areas causing the property value to increase and displacing the older settlers. Over the past decades, gentrification has been refined depending on the neighborhood 's economic, social and political context. According to Davidson and Less’ definition, a gentrified area should include investment in capital, social upgrading, displacement of older settlers and change in the landscape (Davidson and Lees, 2005).Gentrification was perceived to be a residential process, however in the recent years, it has become a broader topic, involving the restructuring of inner cities, commercial development and improvement of facilities in the inner city neighborhoods. Many urban cities like Chicago, Michigan and Boston have experienced gentrification, however, it is affecting the Harlem residents more profoundly, uprooting the people who have been living there for decades, thus destroying the cultural identity of the historic neighborhood.
These are some of the alternative solution to posed gentrification at the city of Boyle Heights in East Los Angeles. So, have in mind that gentrification is controversial process. It’s clear enough that it only affect the urban development of the cities. But the problem of gentrification needs to be research more for feather results.