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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm the poster above, and I would add that I think when you have a fresh influx of people with more resources, it helps to challenge the complacency that perhaps has taken root in an area.  And I'm not even saying that it's necessarily the fault of the population who already lives there that they have become complacent, but I do think that there are areas where people have come to accept a certain level of crime.  When you have an influx of people with more resources, they challenge that, demand more, and usually you see results.

Ideally, they could do that without displacing the people who already live there.  But I'm not sure how to ensure that they don't displace those people.  I think it's at the heart of some of the tension going on in gentrifying areas of D.C.

But I don't think anyone would argue that it's bad that crime has gone down in gentrifying areas. [/quote]

There's been evidence for some time that gentrification does not in fact lead to displacement.

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1818255,00.html
http://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1936&context=facpub

Of course, it's a very effective narrative for gaining emotional leverage in any debate.[/quote]

What exactly is a "very effective narrative"?  And what do you mean by "emotional leverage"?  I don't know the solution to prevent gentrification from displacing people (perhaps requiring rental properties to maintain a certain number of affordable units).  But I don't think it's a bad thing to reduce crime.  I also think that it isn't a bad thing to break up clusters of concentrated poverty, but that, by definition, means some people will be displaced.  The key is to make sure they have options so that you aren't just shifting a cluster of poverty to another area.

I believe most sociologists concluded a few decades ago that the recent having "projects" doesn't work well is because of the concentration of poverty.  I'm all for mixed communities, and by "mixed," I'm talking about a mix of SES.  But I'll admit I don't know how to achieve that.

But I certainly wasn't trying to gain "emotional leverage" by pointing out reality -- i.e. gentrification leads to lower crime rates.  [/quote]

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