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Shirish Bishwokarma

8/2/2017
Katherine Joshi
Pre English
Word Count: 1,800
In this paper, I address activists, politicians, and lawyers. Activists that fight against
gentrification usually rally the support of the public. Providing specific examples of negative
effects, such as the ones I list, can be beneficial in gaining support for their cause. Activists could
use these negative effects as basis to call for change by the politicians in the state and federal
government. Activists could also create and support organizations that promote or create
affordable housing and use litigations to fight gentrification. Politicians are another main group
that I am trying to address. I want politicians to know the harmful effects of gentrification, so
that they stop approving redevelopment plans. Specifically addressing democrats/liberal
politicians is key. Liberals are more likely to oppose gentrification and understand the negative
effects that come along with it. Convincing these liberal politicians can make them vote against
redevelopment plans and try to convince their conservative counterparts to change their stance
on it as well. The last group I want to address is lawyers. Attorneys are the only ones that can
bring up specific litigations in court to fight displacement and gentrification a whole. Convincing
lawyers is crucial to fighting gentrification through litigations. Attorneys could also be paid by
organizations set up to combat gentrification, in which case they will most likely be on board.
Activists, politicians, and lawyers are the key to bringing change and combating gentrification in
a way that wont bring it back.

How gentrification negatively affects certain racial and socioeconomic groups, and how we
can combat it

Gentrification has been increasing at an enormous rate the last few years, mainly in major

cities. Due to its increase, gentrification has become a huge talking point, especially in politics.

Gentrification negatively affects certain racial and socioeconomic groups. Many activists have

criticized gentrification for being one of the components of institutionalized racism against

people of color. Many times, research articles and journals that address gentrification, do not

speak about the experiences of people that are going through it. Gentrification heavily affects

Baltimore City, where I grew up for most of my life. Often, when driving through the city, I

would see houses that went from run down to new on the same block. I could see the negative
effects it had and still has on many people in Baltimore, while certain people benefited from it.

Five minutes away from me, were neighborhoods that became gentrified. Besides affecting the

city where I grew up, it also has affected my close friends, who either live in gentrified

neighborhoods or were pushed out of their neighborhoods because of it. Johns Hopkins,

considered one of the best schools in the country, has been the main force of gentrification in

Baltimore City. Hopkins has gentrified a lot of East Baltimore, pushing people out their homes,

and are continuing to gentrify more of the city. Gentrification negatively affects poor people and

people of color the most, while white and rich people benefit from it.

So, what is gentrification? Gentrification is the process of renovating neighborhoods in

urban settings to create a migration in which wealthier residents move into poorer

neighborhoods. This process mainly consists of rebuilding houses and adding new businesses in

that neighborhood. Gentrification mainly occurs in big cities, such as New York, Los Angeles,

and Baltimore. The word gentrification has mainly a negative connotation, so some authors will

use the word urban development. The main racial groups affected by gentrification are black and

Latinx people. People with low socioeconomic status are also heavily affected. Socioeconomic

status is social standing based on economic and social status. Education, health, and income are

components of socioeconomic status. Gentrification has only recently become a big talking

point, even though it roots back to the 30s and 40s in America (Brown-Saracino 33). In the

1960s, sociologist Ruth Glass coined the term gentrification. After the 1960s, gentrification

began to increase rapidly and by 1976, nearly half of the cities in the U.S. were experiencing

some form of it (Brown-Saracino 33). Now gentrification has become more of a problem due to

many cities looking to renovate poor areas and middle-class residents looking to move closer to
their jobs in the city. The real effects of gentrification are becoming clearer, now that there is

more data and research on it.

This paper explores the most common negative effects of gentrification and specific ideas

to combat those effects, and gentrification as a whole. I commence by discussing the first

negative effect, which is displacement. Second, I will discuss increasing poverty and health

problems due to gentrification. In my last argument, ideas to combat gentrification will be

discussed. This paper will also discuss many counter arguments that go against my arguments.

After researching information about effects of gentrification, I argue that gentrification, in major

cities, negatively affects certain racial and socioeconomic groups through creating displacement,

increasing poverty, and health problems, which can be combatted with litigation of laws and

affordable housing.

Displacement of certain racial and socioeconomic groups is one of the main negative

effects of gentrification. This is due to the high prices of new housing, which in many cases,

people in that neighborhood cannot afford because they are of low income. Many people that

lived in that neighborhood and left cannot afford to come back. Many racial groups are displaced

by gentrification, but black and immigrants such as the Latinx populations are affected the most.

Loretta Lees in Gentrification and Social Mixing: Towards an Inclusive Urban Renaissance?

highlights how displacement occurs and states minority residents are steadily priced out of

gentrified areas (Loretta Lees 2457). This shows that people of color are affected by

displacement the most through high prices. New businesses also push people of low

socioeconomic status out of their neighborhoods. New businesses that come with gentrification

usually have higher priced products due to new middle-class residents, which makes it

impossible for poor people to afford them. Another way that displacement occurs is the social
and economic isolation that occurs between new middle-class residents, who are mostly white,

and people of color. In many cases, middle class residents do not participate in social mixing

with the residents that lived there already due to their feeling of superiority and self-segregation

(Loretta Lees 2458). This pushes a lot of people of color and low socioeconomic groups out of

neighborhoods because they feel less connected and protected around rich and white people.

Segregation gives poor people a sense of protection because they are around people that they can

relate to (Loretta Lees 2461). This makes poor and people of color move to other parts of the city

that they feel more protected in.

Increasing poverty and health problems are other tremendous negative effects due to

gentrification in cities. Increasing poverty due to gentrification heavily connects back to

displacement. Displacement can cause homelessness, which increases poverty significantly

through not having a basis. Another way gentrification increases poverty is through making jobs

harder to achieve. Hannah Weinstein in Fighting for a Place Called Home: Litigation Strategies

for Challenging Gentrification speaks on this issue, and states Gentrification...pushes low-

income households farther from the jobs (Hannah Weinstein 806). A lot of jobs are found in the

city, and not being able to access these jobs puts people in a disadvantage to poverty. People who

work in the city but are pushed to the edge of the city are in danger of losing their jobs due to

transit problems. Gentrification also pushes people away from the transit found closest to city

centers (Hannah Weinstein 806), which makes it difficult for people to get to their jobs. Transit

is usually worse towards the edge of the city and counties. Health and physiological problems in

correlation to displacement and increasing poverty is a major problem due to gentrification.

Living in fear of being displaced and around people who are richer causes a lot of physiological

stress (Gibbons and Barton 910). Increasing poverty makes it arduous for low income families to
stay healthy. People with low income cannot afford to buy healthy foods, which means that they

must refer to cheap and unhealthy foods, such as fast food. Low income residents also have a

harder time paying hospital bills and buying health insurance which is crucial to being healthy

(Gibbons Barton 910). Gentrification creates a lot of obstacles for poor residents to better their

wealth and health, and in turn makes them worse.

Gentrification can be combatted through many different means, but the two main focuses

are affordable housing and litigation of laws. Affordable housing is slowly decreasing with many

neighborhoods, and specifically houses being renovated. In this time of increased gentrification,

it is vital to keep affordable housing. Affordable housing can help combat gentrification by

creating houses that people with low income can afford. One-way affordable housing can be

created is by building many homes around the neighborhood so that prices drop (Mark Peters 3).

The bigger the supply of houses, the less of a demand. Another way affordable housing can be

acquired is through building smaller simplistic houses or apartments (Mark Peters 5). If houses

are built for cheap, then they can be sold in a cheaper price which will allow low income people

to purchase them. In many cases, home sellers will try to sell houses to a certain race or class.

Another tactic to combat gentrification is the litigations of different laws passed to combat

housing discrimination and displacement. For example, the FHA could be used, which bans

discrimination on the basis of race in the sale or rental of housing (Weinstein 822). Besides

protecting against housing discrimination, FHA also promotes fair housing (Y Li 1236). This law

can be used because gentrification usually requires zoning and redevelopment plans and lawyers

could use claims of this law to challenge it. Zoning regulations displaces poor people from urban

areas, and can be combatted through litigations (Y Li 1236). Lawyers could use litigation to

force a certain amount of affordable housing in the zoning regulation. Forcing certain amount of
affordable housing would help stop displacement by creating a space in which people with low

income can excel. Another law that could be brought up is the requirement of environmental

impact statement, as well as human welfare and health consideration by the NEPA for any

development project passed by the government (Weinstein 817). Litigations can highlight the

negative health and environmental effects of gentrification, and use them to force the

government to follow the NEPAs requirements. Using these tactics of litigations, combating

gentrification can be successful.

There are many arguments that support gentrification, and label it as a positive thing to

certain racial and socioeconomic groups. One of the main arguments for gentrification is that it

encourages diversity in neighborhoods, John Butin argues this claim in The Myth of

Gentrification, and states that when demographics of a black neighborhood changes, it is mainly

due to Latinx and other immigrants moving into the neighborhood, so it is more beneficial than

harmful (John Butin 4). This idea has a lot of flaws, one being that even if other immigrants are

moving into these neighborhoods, black people are still being displaced, which is a negative

effect. The second flaw being that the author is not considering the socioeconomic disparity

between the new immigrants and people that already live there. Another argument that John

Butin makes is that socioeconomic status and income stabilizes over time (John Butin 4).

Besides not giving any evidence to back his claim, John Butin ignores that income stabilization

might be due to the displacement of low income people already living in that neighborhood. As

more middle class residents move in and replace the low income people, the income of the

neighborhood becomes more equal (Loretta Lees 2459).

Gentrification has now become an enormous topic that researchers wants to learn more

about. I argue that gentrification, in major cities, negatively affects certain racial and
socioeconomic groups through creating displacement, increasing poverty, and health problems,

which can be combatted with litigation of laws and affordable housing. Many people have been

deeply affected by gentrification in a way which hurts them and their families. Displacement

creates very negative mental issues that can be painful to endure. Families being forced to move

out of their own homes is very saddening. Although it will take a lot of hard work to spread

awareness and combat gentrification, it is achievable and an issue that is worth putting effort

into.

Works Cited:

Buntin, John. "Gentrification Is a Myth." Slate Magazine. Slate , 14 Jan. 2015. Web. 30 July
2017.

Weinstein, Hannah. "Fighting for a Place Called Home: Litigation Strategies for Challenging
Gentrification." UCLA Law Review, vol. 62, no. 3, May 2015, pp. 794-832.
EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
Lees, Loretta. Gentrification and Social Mixing: Towards an Inclusive Urban
Renaissance?Urban Studies, Urban Studies, 7 Aug. 2008.

Brown-Saracino, Japonica. The Gentrification Debates: a Reader. London: Taylor and Francis,
2013. Print.

Gibbons, Joseph , and Michael S. Barton. "The Association of Minority Self-Rated Health with
Black versus White Gentrification." Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York
Academy of Medicine93.6 (2016): n. pag. Web. 8 Aug. 2017

Peters, Mark. "How to Make City Housing More Affordable." The Wall Street Journal. Dow
Jones & Company, 24 Apr. 2016. Web. 11 Aug. 2017.

Y.Li , Bethany . "Now Is the Time!: Challenging Resegregation and Displacement in the Age of
Hypergentrification." Fordham Law Review85.3 (2016): n. pag. Web. 8 Aug. 2017.

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