The Effects of Gentrification. It is impossible to say whether gentrification is good or bad. It is undoubtedly bad for some, but it is also likely to be good for others. And sorting out who gains and who loses often depends on questions such as who moves out, where do they go, and why?
This is difficult because if someone moves out of a gentrifying neighborhood we may never know whether the move would have occurred anyway or whether it was caused by the gentrification of the neighborhood. Researchers seeking answers to these questions are often frustrated by scarce evidence. The first group is those who leave a gentrifying neighborhood. Most of the concern about gentrification focuses on this group and it is, therefore, the most studied.
The second group is those who now live in the gentrified neighborhood. This group includes both new residents — the gentrifiers — and the original residents who did not leave.
The final group includes the people who have never lived in the neighborhood but may nonetheless be affected by changes in its character. We need to consider the effects on all of these groups if we want a comprehensive understanding of the impact of gentrification.
Others, who may be able to afford the higher cost of living in the gentrified neighborhood, may leave anyway because their family and friends have moved, because familiar merchants or services have disappeared, or because the character of the neighborhood has changed so much that they no longer want to stay.
Researchers can often see how many people migrate in and out of neighborhoods but it is difficult to identify gentrification as the cause. The normal approach is to determine if displacement rates are higher in gentrifying neighborhoods than they are in other places, and the weight of empirical research using these methods suggests displacement rates are no higher in gentrifying neighborhoods than they are elsewhere.
Instead, it seems the poor leave gentrified neighborhoods at normal rates but are then replaced almost exclusively by the wealthy. It is also possible that some gentrifying neighborhoods have enough vacant housing to allow the wealthy to move in without requiring the poor to move out. It clearly does. And when it does, it can have very negative consequences. The Center for Disease Control, for example, even put out a warning on the health effects of gentrification.
This can cause stress and have mental health implications for those affected. A study of mortgage lending in large U. For example, gentrification could reduce the overall availability of affordable housing. In other words, gentrification-induced rent increases make both staying and leaving more difficult for low-income residents.
Low-income residents of gentrified neighborhoods, faced with limited housing options, may be forced to stay where they are and figure out a way to pay their higher rent. Researchers looking for displacement in situations like this would not find it, but there would likely be very real hardship for some residents nonetheless. The answer to this question obviously varies from person to person, but it suggests a need to understand how changes in a neighborhood impact existing residents.
If gentrification increases property values, city governments should collect more tax revenue, and city services should increase. However, research suggests the nature of these services often shift with the demographic make-up of a neighborhood to reflect the needs and preferences of new residents. Existing residents, especially groups like elderly homeowners, may have very different needs than the new residents and thus end up paying higher property taxes without a corresponding increase in the public services they require.
Unfortunately, empirical evidence of whether city services disproportionately benefit the gentrifiers is extremely limited. For instance, gentrification could be correlated with an increase in neighborhood jobs [19] but it is not clear whether businesses are attracted to gentrifying neighborhoods or vice versa, and it is also unclear whether any new jobs benefit low-income residents of the neighborhood. Scholars are also unsure of the effects of crime. Some studies have found gentrification to reduce crime rates while others have found it to increase crime.
The Effects on Others. Many of the effects of gentrification already identified will also apply to this group, such as the possible reduction in the supply of affordable housing; changes in city services that can spill over into the rest of the city such as improved transportation systems ; a possible effect on crime rates; and a shuffling of city residents that can influence economic and racial diversity.
A core driver of gentrification in the U. This broad-scale demographic shift is actively underway in many Texas cities, including Houston, Austin, and Dallas. City planning, economic development initiatives, and tax incentives fostering redevelopment in central neighborhoods are considered to be additional factors influencing gentrification. Neighborhoods impacted by gentrification have been shaped historically by decades of discriminatory public policies and private real estate practices that undermined property values, facilitated substandard living conditions, and generated racially segregated housing patterns.
Direct displacement occurs when residents can no longer afford to remain in their homes due to rising housing costs. Residents may also be forced out by lease non-renewals, evictions, eminent domain, or physical conditions that render homes uninhabitable as investors await redevelopment opportunities.
While displacement occurs routinely in low-income neighborhoods, when it occurs in the context of new development and an influx of wealthier residents, the displacement becomes a characteristic of gentrification. Indirect displacement refers to changes in who is moving into a neighborhood as low-income residents move out. In a gentrifying neighborhood, when homes are vacated by low-income residents, other low-income residents cannot afford to move in because rents and sales prices have increased.
It focuses on creating tools to help communities identify the pressures surrounding them and take more effective action. Citing this website? Use the following: Chapple, K. Urban Displacement Project website. What Are Gentrification and Displacement.
Table of Contents. Read More. Mobility A typical American moves over 11 times in their lifetime. Health Impacts Displacement can lead to stress and depression. Neighborhood Effects When low-income families have to leave their homes, they are likely to move to lower-income neighborhoods.
Sources: Chalabi, Mona Gentrification Explained. Gentrification is complex — to understand it, there are three key things to consider: Historic conditions , especially policies and practices that made communities susceptible to gentrification Disinvestment and investment patterns of the central city taking place today as a result of these conditions.
The program guaranteed low-cost mortgage loans for returning WWII soldiers. However, discrimination limited the extent to which black veterans were able to purchase homes in the growing suburbs. In fact, the FHA largely required that suburban developers agree to not sell houses to Black people in order for the developers to access these guaranteed loans.
Urban renewal : Left behind in central city neighborhoods, low-income households and communities of color bore the brunt of highway system expansion and urban renewal programs, which resulted in the mass clearance of homes, businesses, and neighborhood institutions, and set the stage for widespread public and private disinvestment in the decades that followed.
Foreclosure crisis : In more recent history, the foreclosure crisis contributed to making places vulnerable to gentrification. In low-income communities of color, disproportionate levels of subprime lending resulted in mass foreclosures, leaving those neighborhoods vulnerable to investors seeking to purchase and flip homes. Of foreclosures completed in , there were: foreclosures for African-Americans, foreclosures for Latinos, and for Non-Hispanic Whites per 10, loans. Central city disinvestment and investment patterns : Today, both people and capital are flooding back into these historically disinvested neighborhoods.
Relative affordability In many US cities, the rental market has gotten increasingly expensive, and even moderate income earners are on the hunt for lower housing costs. Cities tend to have older, historic housing stock that appeals to new residents. Cities offer proximity to commercial and job centers where jobs, restaurants and art spaces are increasingly located. Revitalization — cities are investing in some of these neighborhoods with improved transit access and infrastructure in part to draw in newcomers.
On the ground, gentrification may look like: Real estate speculation, with investors flipping properties for large profits, as well as high-end development, and landlords looking for higher-paying tenants. Increased investment in neighborhood amenities, like transit and parks.
Changes in land use, for example from industrial land to restaurants and storefronts.
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