Wednesday
Nov172004
Urban Gentrification = Black & Brown People Removal
Wednesday, November 17, 2004 at 04:17PM
Lightening up 'Chocolate City'
Gentrification. The term was coined in 1964 by sociologist Ruth Glass as she described the changes in London neighborhoods. She used the word to describe the cyclic physical, economic, cultural and social renovation of an urban area. According to Webster's, gentrification is "the immigration of middle-class people into a deteriorating or recently renewed city area." Seems pretty simple and benign from that definition, but Blacks in the District know gentrification is anything but simple and benign. Gentrification happens in periodic waves, from the federally sponsored urban renewal efforts in the 1950s and '60s to the so-called back-to-the-city movement of the late '70s and early '80s. A number of U.S. cities whose populations and economies seemed to have bottomed out are on the rebound, experiencing another wave of gentrification today, with Washington as a good example. Working-class, impoverished or urban neighborhoods are converted to affluent communities with an infusion of money for capital projects, massive property renovations and construction of new retail spaces and upscale residences. The resulting properties cost more to rent and purchase and the goods sold are more expensive because the cost of the retail space is more expensive. [more]
Gentrification. The term was coined in 1964 by sociologist Ruth Glass as she described the changes in London neighborhoods. She used the word to describe the cyclic physical, economic, cultural and social renovation of an urban area. According to Webster's, gentrification is "the immigration of middle-class people into a deteriorating or recently renewed city area." Seems pretty simple and benign from that definition, but Blacks in the District know gentrification is anything but simple and benign. Gentrification happens in periodic waves, from the federally sponsored urban renewal efforts in the 1950s and '60s to the so-called back-to-the-city movement of the late '70s and early '80s. A number of U.S. cities whose populations and economies seemed to have bottomed out are on the rebound, experiencing another wave of gentrification today, with Washington as a good example. Working-class, impoverished or urban neighborhoods are converted to affluent communities with an infusion of money for capital projects, massive property renovations and construction of new retail spaces and upscale residences. The resulting properties cost more to rent and purchase and the goods sold are more expensive because the cost of the retail space is more expensive. [more]