Are you wearing a bra?

That's a really "glass half empty" view in my opinion. In most cases that I know about, these neighbourhoods were no super wonderful place to live before gentrification. . Sure there were communities there, doing their best in limited circumstances, but high crime rates and low value land use (residential mixed with light industrial / low value commercial) is pretty common for inner city areas. The reasons for gentrification are usually a result of being close to a city centre or having interesting potential for adaptive reuse (warehouse districts etc), not because of the existing community making it attractive. They, being poor, had no resources to do so.

And don't forget that existing property owners make out really well in these situations. Lower middle class areas that had decent home ownership rates mean a huge windfall in property values when gentrification comes. I realise it's a different story for renters, but for owners finally able to sell at a decent price, it's a good deal all around.

/r/TalesFromYourServer Thread Parent