GENTRIFICATION

THE FACELIFT: When And Why

When a community’s crime rate has surpassed unemployment numbers and local public schools have adopted cultures of failure, gentrification is a necessary course of action. If generation after generation; locals score low in math and reading comprehension exams. When drop-out rates consistently exceed graduation rates, change must occur. When buildings are hazardous to its tenants from lack of upkeep because landlords are unwilling to provide basic services and maintenance, leadership must step in. There cannot be abandoned dwellings and dilapidated pockets in a metropolis occupied by squatters. There are few who are intelligent enough to create employment for the locals but a plethora that would rather bring the employed in and replace the current residents.


Community  Enrichment    

When hospitals are understaffed, underfunded and over-crowded an upgrade is needed. Long term survival of a community means firehouses equipped and not stretched beyond reasonable expectations and financially secured by the local tax base. Maintaining the basic services a modern day community needs takes big picture thinking. Proper planning not only takes into consideration current cost but inflationary cost down the line. Neighborhood commercial businesses cannot flourish and profit if there is insufficient infrastructure and disposable income for the aborigine. Barbershops, churches, beauty salons, fruit stands, convenience stores etc are reliant of many factors but money and accommodations for transportation are vital to growth of demand.

Welcome to the Jungle

If the streets of a community become “Beyond Thunderdome” after sunset, perhaps gentrification is a sound alternative. It does not take much for the bad seeds of one neighborhood to leak itself into adjacent communities. If your neighborhood is producing 10% of the states’ prison population some type of massive overhaul needs to take precedence.
Movin’ On Up

There is an underlying obligation a community has to itself to attract residents who can support local businesses. It must compete with neighbors and needs the best modern housing it can provide. Working class should be protected and supported as to not be drowned by the rising tides. Low rise buildings may need to make way for upgrading. Adding levels to existing structures brings in new residents without having to displace current ones.

Education and Running Hot Water

Cities shut down under-performing schools in favor of magnets; in hopes of improving current students and attracting more affluent parents into the community with better education. When infrastructure needs upgrading such as sewerage systems, power grids, subway lines etc but the tax base does not justify the allocation of funds, a community can suffer long term economic ramifications and even risk being made undesirable and obsolete.
Keeping Up With the Jones’

In the case where a particular neighborhood flourishes to the point of maximum capacity, expansion can cause gentrification. The real estate value of a community may increase by no action of its’ own but rather a benefactor of close proximity to a more sought out location. A mere road or rail to and from a desired destination can begin the gentry’s process from kinetic reaction. Without any zoning changes or eminent domain actions less financially secure people of a community can be driven out when local commercial businesses prices rise. High end retail stores, shopping districts, specialized eateries and entertainment make it difficult for some prior gentrification residents to remain. Rents rise because new residents are willing to pay them if circumstances are preferable.
 
Economic Flight

Other methods of gentrification are: eminent domain, property tax increases, public transportation hikes, toll bridges raises and high energy cost. By raising the cost of living; many residents are forced to seek shelter elsewhere; reconstructing the cultural and financial makeup of a community..