The Role Of Gentrification In Denver

When a neighborhood is gentrified it will not only change the image of it, but also the services available there (Al-Kodmany 2011, 62-63). In other words, gentrification does not only have an impact on the physical aspect of the land, but also the resources that lie there. During the 90s, the Near West Side neighborhood located near Loop, an up-scale neighborhood, sought drastic changes within the area. The changes in racial demographics in the Near West Side indicated that the health risks that affected minorities dropped in the past decade (1992-2002) (Al-Kodmany 2011,

The Philadelphia Coalition for Affordable Communities defines Gentrification as “The transformation of low-income and working class neighborhoods, driving up housing and other real estate prices and causing the displacement of long-term residents, businesses, and institutions.”

Over the years, gentrification has been given many definitions from simply referring to, “…instances of new arrivals who were buying and bidding up old housing stock”, (Sanneh, 2016) to, “…disinvested areas of the city that are now experiencing rapid and significant increases in land and real estate values” (Jennings, Terrell, Douglas, Barnett & Harding, 2016, pg. 9) and many more. As noted previously gentrification is occurring throughout the world and the Midwest is not immune. The process of gentrification tends to go like so: visitors stumble upon a disinvested area that they take an interest in. Whether because the rent is cheap or the area is vibrant, they fall in love and decide to pack up their home and relocate. This scenario, from one point of view, can be seen as a story of a person deciding to broaden their horizon and see what other parts of the world has to offer. While the other point of view may see this as a possible financial burden, a cause for the major changes in the place they call their home and the likelihood of displacement.

Gentrification can be defined simply as the shift in the makeup of the people in a community. It is the transition in a community from a run down, poorer area to a more wealthy demographic. Gentrification starts with the increase of property values caused by brokers and real estate agents. These brokers and real estate agents usually benefit the most from gentrification. Businesses that are moving in are storefront coffee shops, cafes, boutiques, etc. Since these newer, nicer shops are occupying the storefront, the rent for the apartments above rise, causing many people to lose their homes. The new tenants that move into these apartments are typically young and hip. They prefer to hang out at these coffee shops below. These new landlords are more in touch with the demographic changes and are looking to change the area in order to make money. The older, current landlords do not see a need for change. Some people will argue that gentrification is inevitable. While gentrification is happing all over the world, I did my research specifically on downtown Kansas City, Missouri, Harlem, New York, and DUMBO, Brooklyn, New York. Gentrification comes with both positive and negative effects. These three areas each show a unique perspective on gentrification.

Gentrification was something I was experiencing it first hand without noticing for years and when I did realizing it I believe that gentrification is considered a positive change from a concrete perspective and it may be very difficult and unacceptable for many local people to sacrifice the culture they have valued and built over many generations. In other words, gentrification is a “just” process and although there are sacrifices that comes along with the process to improve the city or a district, it will eventually happen over the course of time for economical and social benefits in a big picture. For example, the city of belmont has been recorded as one of the gentrified areas in the San Francisco Bay Area by Urban Displacement Map and

The work of developers reconstructs the buildings and the historical culture of the city, allowing newcomers to forget what Washington, D.C. once was. A culturally coined, popular seafood restaurant, Fish in the ’Hood was forced to change its name to “Fish in the Neighborhood” to “survive,” as quoted by Bill White, owner of the establishment. Whereas in the U Street area gentrifiers are embracing and commoditizing the black history, while displacing the minorities all in one fell swoop. The African-Americans and Latinos who manage to remain in these areas are faced with cultural alienation. They feel as though the newcomers want them gone and their history is the only weapon they have in the battle of money and power with

In addition, gentrification has several ways of being creeping into our neighborhood but at the end the outcomes have been quite similar. Our society has always viewed neighborhoods were minorities live in as being the ghettos, slums, or ‘hoods of America. When many of us come across an urbanized area we generally assume violence, drug trafficking, and overall social pathologies strive these places. Once we hear these “ghetto’s” are under going gentrification, we have a sense of relief and we feel there is hope for these communities. Gentrification may seem a blessing to an urban community by many, but if it were to be closely examine it we would find out it isn’t. Although the process has solved many economic issues within cities by providing employment opportunities, increases in property tax revenues and has diminished violence, the aftermath is far worse. (Freeman) Gentrification has increased the

Gentrification brings positive long term effects to communities and cities nationwide. Direct results of gentrification for both the residents and the city are the economical growth, local job opportunities created and a higher tax base available. (Stacey Sutton, Urbanly planning Scholar, defined gentrification as): Gentrification is the process of higher status people renovating lower class urban neighborhoods to satisfy middle-higher class standards (Sutton, 2015). In the process of gentrification throughout the United States, it is positively impacting the economy in more ways than one. One benefit of gentrification is the economical growth residents benefit from.

Gentrification in Chicago is kicking thousands of low income people out of their homes, but can it be a good thing? “Gentrification is the process of renewing and renovating urban, low-income neighborhoods, usually to help accommodate middle and upper class citizens causing an increase in property values. This often leads to many lower class residents abandoning the community and the foot print they may have left there. The nice part of this act is that it can put a good impact on the city and its economy. But who is this affected the most and how can we help? I know that this act can hurt a lot of people, but I do believe it has more positive effects than negative.

Gentrification is both beneficial and detrimental to society because it reduces crime and creates a better looking area that is more diverse, but displaces the residents at the same time. Although not everyone agrees, gentrification could be seen as a beneficial advantage in the community. It is a good thing for the home owners and the city government because they can raise the rent. It also creates a more diverse area in the neighborhood. In the City Lab article titled, “This Is What Happens After a Neighborhood Gets Gentrified,”Richard Florida states,“And, in a 2009 study,

According to the article Gentrification by Ajay Panicker, gentrification is the process in which urban communities “experience a reversal, reinvestment, and the in-migration of a relatively well-off middle- and upper middle-class population” (Hwang and Sampson, 2014, pg. 727). With this definition in mind, gentrification has affected my life. In recent years, New York City has been stricken down by gentrification, specifically in certain areas of Brooklyn and Manhattan. As viewed in the text, African-American and Latino communities are comparatively poorer and marginalized due to gentrification. The neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Manhattan were once predominately African-American and Latino. Presently, these neighborhoods have been overtaken

The term Gentrification was coined by a British Sociologist Ruth Glass to describe the movement of middle class families in urban areas causing the property value to increase and displacing the older settlers. Over the past decades, gentrification has been refined depending on the neighborhood 's economic, social and political context. According to Davidson and Less’ definition, a gentrified area should include investment in capital, social upgrading, displacement of older settlers and change in the landscape (Davidson and Lees, 2005).Gentrification was perceived to be a residential process, however in the recent years, it has become a broader topic, involving the restructuring of inner cities, commercial development and improvement of facilities in the inner city neighborhoods. Many urban cities like Chicago, Michigan and Boston have experienced gentrification, however, it is affecting the Harlem residents more profoundly, uprooting the people who have been living there for decades, thus destroying the cultural identity of the historic neighborhood.

Viewing the complex matter of gentrification succinctly, it helps to uncover how multifaceted it is; in that gentrification involves the oppression, marginalization, displacement of vulnerable populations, particularly, the poor, and the black who are often already negatively impacted by the effects of classism, and racism. Gentrification threatens to erode the communities and livelihood maintained by these set of people because their displacement becomes a precondition for the total transformation of the area.

Denver and surrounding cities total population change increased by 5,000. A possible cause of this is Denver’s metro transit. All transportation is coming out of the city and spreading to more rural surrounding counties (Figure 2). In the Percent Change 2011 to 2010 map (Figure 3) supports this claim but also is evidence of time accessible transportation increased suburbanization. In addition, in the Population Density map (Figure 4), as going further out from Denver, the density decreased. This is due mostly to urban sprawl which can be caused by expressways & interstate systems, new communication technologies, and the creation of GI bill. Looking at the total population by county 2010 map (Figure 5), Douglas County has 160,000 to 299,999

The topic of gentrification is one that has a reputation for being quite the folktale when it comes to determining whether or not is a good thing or a bad thing for society. Gentrification is also a hot button topic and many people whether they are on the side that believes it to be good or bad most of the time don’t readily brooch the subject. Various people find themselves conflicted on the matter and others are split evenly between thinking it has a positive or negative influence on society. I argue that gentrification is not all black and white. Indeed, there are many grey areas and so depending on what angle or lens you are observing gentrification from you could see either negative or positive outcomes. I take the stance that while it’s