L.+Israel

Outline.

I. Intro A. Define Gentrification B. Explain why its a problem

II. Examples of Gentrification A. Cities where Gentrification was enacted..

III. Analysis A. Reasons for Gentrifcation B. Statistics of Gentrification

IV. Conclusion I. Redefine and Restate why gentrification is a problem.

=Intro. =

The topic I chose was gentrification in America. Gentrification is the socio-economic, commercial, or demographic change in an urban area resulting from wealthier people buying housing property in a poor community. This is commonly found in poor urban areas such as projects. The main reason that this is a problem in America is because in most cases it forces the lower class echelon of society out of their homes. This is due to either raised property taxes induced from the higher property value of the area as a result of a wealthier population moving in, OR from complete physical reconstruction of project buildings or neighborhoods.

I decided to choose this topic because it exemplifies one of the many reasons why the distribution of wealth in our country continues to negatively affect society. The fact that it's okay to spread crime, tear down people's homes, and hike up taxes as long as it is in the name of establishing new businesses, 'fixing' the neighborhood, and raising average income is absolutely asinine in my opinion. I plan to research major examples of gentrification, and analyze their causes, and consequences.

This Political cartoon satirizes the fact that when gentrification takes place, usually people of the Caucasian race take over the area. It is pretty funny in my opinion.

 =Example. =

One of the most severe waves of gentrification hit the corner of Darien Street in Philadelphia. African Americans moved into the community after the second world war, and by the 70's, the community was poverty stricken, and at its worst. In 1977, the gentrification began with the renovation of a home on the block by a school teacher. After this, in the coming years, more middle class whites began to purchase the abandoned homes on Darien Street, and eventually, the current residents had to leave to make way for them. After only five years, the block went from 7 black households and 1 white household, to 2 black households, and 11 white households. For the remaining black households, eviction was inevitable. The rent increased by 488% from $85 a month, to $500. It wasn't long before they moved out and by 1981, a house bought for $5,000 was sold for $35,000... Gentrification at its finest.

= =  -- =Statistics. =  Gentrification affects many households across the United States annually. It has been calculated by Author P.Marcuse that gentrification in New York city alone at one point displaced up to 40,000 households a year... But wait... It gets worse. In the book __The Anatomy of Displacement in the United States__ R. LeGates and C. Hartman state that displacement in the United States, an approximate average of 2.5 million people are displaced every year. That is a lot of people who get pretty much booted out of their homes because the government wants to to "clean up the neighborhood".  This is a pie chart showing both current residents, and prospective residents for an area in Brooklyn called Atlantic Yards. It shows how currently, the largest demographic of people that live there earn less than 21K a year. However, once new housing is built, it is expected that the economic demographic with the second to least amount of people there is expected to rise from 11% to 64%, becoming the largest part of the populaton. Also, as a result of this, the originally most populus economic demographic, is expected to completely diminish... Hmm.. Maybe it's just a coincidence.

 =Conclusion. =

Gentrification is a very large issue in the United States. Its effects consistently hurts those of low-income households, only to help high income households. This illustrates how the distribution of wealth has hurt our country as a whole. Gentrification puts people out of their homes who are usually already struggling to get by, and it is all done to help the rich. Do these tenants have any less rights than those with pensions and higher incomes? Well it certainly appears that way. This problem needs to be solved quickly, before more people are wrongfully put out of there homes.

The one thing that I really learned was the size of the problem. Prior to this project I had no idea how many people where displaced due to gentrification a year, and the figure shocked me quite honestly. It also made me more aware of how much of a problem it is. --

Annotated Bib.

This book is where I received the figure regarding the number of displaced people per year in the United States. Again, the year of Publication should be noted. This book is where I got my statistics from regarding the annual displacement average for the city of New York. The year of the book should be noted however. Here is where I received my graphic illustrating what the prospective population of Atlantic Yard Brooklyn would look like. It clearly shows that the low income population is expected to disappear, and the high income population is expected to take over the area. This is the blog where I retrieved that hilarious gentrification cartoon.
 * LeGates, R. and Hartman, C. (1986) The Anatomy of Displacement in the United States, in Smith, N. and Williams, P. (eds.) Gentrification of the City, London: Unwin Hyman.**
 * Marcuse, P. (1986) Abandonment, Gentrification and Displacement: the Linkages in New York City, in Smith, N. and Williams, P. (eds) Gentrification of the City, London: Unwin Hyman.**
 * "Subsidized? Yes. Affordable? Hardly.." //Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn// (2009): n. pag. Web. 14 Dec 2009. .**
 * "You've Been Gentrified! 10 Tell Tale Signs." //The Shaka Shaw Show//. 08 Jun 2009. Wordpress, Web. 14 Dec 2009. .**