Educate me - why is gentrification bad?

[Anonymous]

Genuinely not trying to be a troll but why exactly is gentrification looked down upon in D.C.?

I understand the impacts it has had on affordability and the cost of living but why do you see this as such an issue in D.C.?


From my perspective (I'm Pakistani btw) it has gotten safer, more amenities and much cleaner. Are people genuinely frustrated that D.C.'s demographics have changed in terms of there being more white people moving in? Please educate me.

[Anonymous]

Can someone please pass the popcorn?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Genuinely not trying to be a troll but why exactly is gentrification looked down upon in D.C.?

I understand the impacts it has had on affordability and the cost of living but why do you see this as such an issue in D.C.?


From my perspective (I'm Pakistani btw) it has gotten safer, more amenities and much cleaner. Are people genuinely frustrated that D.C.'s demographics have changed in terms of there being more white people moving in? Please educate me.

You already hit on it...

[Anonymous]

This is a horrible, horrible place to educate yourself on it. You would be much better off reading a Wikipedia article about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a horrible, horrible place to educate yourself on it. You would be much better off reading a Wikipedia article about it.

Why?

[Anonymous]

It displaces the poor & redevelops interesting historical neighborhoods into bland shopping districts. But yes there are upsides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It displaces the poor & redevelops interesting historical neighborhoods into bland shopping districts. But yes there are upsides.

It always displaces people of color

[Anonymous]

Let me beat everyone else to the punch.

NIMBYs will say gentrification is bad, but will use it as an excuse to oppose any new housing in their neighborhoods, which are *already wealthy*

YIMBYs will say gentrification is unavoidable, but that housing would be more affordable if only they just built more of it. This inevitably means flooding the market with *their* particular brand of housing, luxury single bedroom apartments geared towards high earning single transient young professionals. Among other amenities that white millennials like but nobody else uses.

[Anonymous]

OP instead of asking, "bad or good?" look to understand it. Start with the history of the city: post WWII discriminatory housing policies, redlining, white flight, "urban renewal", and the MLK riots.

Anthony Williams was the architect of this town's gentrification. I thought it was interesting in 2017 when the WaPo reported, "During his years as mayor, Williams thought his economic development plan would lift up the poor, not drive them out of the city."

[Anonymous]

Anyone that has lived in DC for more than a decade can tell you the sad fact that the moment a neighborhood stopped having drive by shootings, in came the white people.

The only way for poor black people to live here is in unsafe, grocery food-deserts. It sucks for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP instead of asking, "bad or good?" look to understand it. Start with the history of the city: post WWII discriminatory housing policies, redlining, white flight, "urban renewal", and the MLK riots.

Anthony Williams was the architect of this town's gentrification. I thought it was interesting in 2017 when the WaPo reported, "During his years as mayor, Williams thought his economic development plan would lift up the poor, not drive them out of the city."

Nah. I'd argue it started with the illegal search & seizures in Trinidad. DC Police doing their job transformed the city.

[Anonymous]

It’s not, OP.
The alternative is of course that those areas stay economically depressed forever.

[Anonymous]

Gentrification is causes prices to go up in previously affordable neighborhoods. In DC, gentrification has made it difficult for anyone considered “middle class” (median $60k ish) to buy a home. Housing costs go up when properties are renovated and new businesses come in to service the people who move into those renovated row houses that are a dime a dozen in DC.

I lived in Columbia Heights from 2011-2020 as a gentrifier and I completely recognize (now and at the time) that every time I went to brunch and then went to Target and stopped at the farmer’s market that I was contributing to the gentrification. Did it being nice things like farmer’s markets to the neighborhood? Sure. But it would have been nice if there was any affordable housing at all so that the neighborhood didn’t end up split between entry level DC worker bees, dual lawyer families with 2 under 2, and public housing projects.

Pretending you don’t understand why something is bad when you actually just don’t think it’s bad is pretty transparent though. There are pros and cons to everything. Gentrification always pushes our people of color though, and for me, that’s enough to go ahead and say that the Target and the 47 brunch options and the farmer’s market aren’t necessarily worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s not, OP.
The alternative is of course that those areas stay economically depressed forever.

No. That is not the only alternative.

[Anonymous]

Everyone here says gentrification is bad but if given the chance (income, right circumstances, etc.), 3/4 would become gentrifiers or already are. So really at best it’s lip service and virtue signaling, at worst they’re the worst hypocrites. The city won’t do anything about because of the $$$$$ in taxes and there’s really no solution besides building high density, lower cost housing, which the gentrifiers mostly oppose. It’s a no win situation...