Examining the Complex Debate on Gentrification in Major U.S. Cities

Abstract

Gentrification Essay Topic Question: What is gentrification? Why is it such a complex and hotly debated topic from Berlin, [City, State] to East Los Angeles? Lees in her video offers some solutions. Why it is so hotly debated and how can we stop it? However, many believe gentrification is a positive development in communities. According to the advocates of gentrification it can lead to improved economic development, lower crime rate, and an increase in property values, which benefits existing homeowners. Do you agree or disagree? What is your assessment of gentrification? Lees begins her lecture with a quote from Spike Lee who is a critic of gentrification. Defining it from a positive perspective, one can describe gentrification as the arrival of a wealthier population in an existing urban district. However, arguing from a negative perspective, gentrification refers to the displacement of poor community/low-income earners by rich outsiders (Zuk et al., 2018). It is no secret that gentrification proves a controversial issue that stirs hot debates within America. Based on its simplest definition, one can note that regardless of the economic benefits that the rich outsiders may bring to the existing districts, the former residents get exposed to a discomfort threat making their initial residence unfit for their continued habitation. Convenience, diversity, availability of cheap housing and vitality of the urban neighborhood serve as the major draws that attract gentrification within such areas. Old abandoned houses or neglected industrial buildings tend to attract financially able people aiming for fixer-uppers as investment opportunities (Freeman and Braconi, 2004). Such qualities define the desirability and ripeness of such neighborhoods in the eyes of wealthy investors. Though the discovery of such a neighborhood starts with a few individuals, the news of such opportunities spread amongst the rich, and with no time, the neighborhood becomes fully occupied by newcomers taking control of its development in a great manner. Unfortunately, ever since time immemorial, the whites and the people of color within America have become differentiated by their economic status. For this reason, the "rich outsiders" taking over the districts occupied by the "poor" tends to benefit the Whites as compared to the former occupants being the people of color. It is through such facts that gentrification tends to become associated with negativities than benefits within America. The effects of gentrification are complex and contradictory, while its real impact varies, making this process a debate of concern. Hyra (2016) argued that gentrification had proved a serious cause of painful conflicts in many American cities, often along economic and racial fault lines. It is believed that gentrification serves as a miscarriage of social justice whereby the whites who serve as the newcomers in the existing districts are always congratulated for improving the poorly habited areas. Unfortunately, the value of the poor, who proves to be the initial habitants of the neighborhood, becomes ignored, whereby they are displaced through skyrocketing rents and economic change. The newcomers introduce new culture among other new ways of living, replacing the already embraced cultures and beliefs by the initial residents of the neighborhood. However, the gentrification process becomes associated with improved economic growth of the occupied districts in several ways. First, the newcomers being wealthy people enhance secure living within such neighborhoods. The fact that gentrification happens in fully concentrated areas of a poor population speaks loud of the financial burdens that such a population may be experiencing (Lees Lecture, 2014). In most cases, poverty levels become accelerated by lack of education, which limits chances of acquiring defined employment opportunities. For this reason, the cost of living tends to be sustained through criminal acts like robbery, drug selling, among other criminal activities that define a desperate population. Arguing from such a point of view, one can confirm that introducing a wealthier population within such neighborhoods can enhance a decrease in criminal activities as new investments and infrastructures will define a new phase of life contrary to the norm. However, the benefits of the reduced crimes, new investments in buildings /infrastructure, and increased economic activity as introduced by the newcomers within the neighborhood tend to be enjoyed disproportionately by the new arrivals (Lees Lecture, 2014). Ignoring the value of the people initially existing within such neighborhood regardless of their economic status tend to spell the dangers of embracing gentrification as it leaves the established residents feeling and experiencing economic and social marginalization (Freeman and Braconi, 2004). Understanding the gentrification process from such negativities continually defines the entire process as an issue of concern that needs the intervention of the right parties to ensure that positive effects of gentrification benefit the long-term resident in the best manner possible. The American government serves as a potential agent of gentrification, which makes the issue uncontrollable (Zuk et al., 2018). The American public sector serves as number one in making investments to stimulate and respond to the renewed interest in urban living. What do such contributions imply? It means that the American government supports gentrification in search of economic growth that comes along with the introduction of productive investment of benefit to the investors and the American government in general as attributed to the anticipated revenues. However, the American government fails to consider displacement as a potential effect that affects the well-being of the initial residents of the neighborhood, which confirms the white privilege hypothesis that the people of color associate with the Whites within the United States. Redlining serves as a historical condition where the federal government contributions in devaluing the neighborhood...