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How Gentrification Works

By: Dave Roos

How Gentrification Works: Author’s Note

I love a topic like this because it really has some meat on its bones. Gentrification is a highly controversial issue in economically booming cities across the country and the world. I used to live in San Francisco, where the gentrification of the traditionally Latino Mission District by white urban professionals was a real issue. I also have a lot of friends who have moved to trendy neighborhoods in Brooklyn that my mother, a Brooklyn native, still considers dangerous. What I loved about researching this article is that it gave me a new prospective on the controversy. I had always assumed that gentrification only benefited the interlopers, but I found some surprising new data that shows that the economic benefits of gentrification are spread more equally than most of us think.

Sources
  • Atkinson, Rowland. ESRC Centre for Neighbourhood Research. "Does Gentrifcation Help or Harm Urban Neighbourhoods? An Assessment of the Evidence Base in the Context of the New Urban Agenda." June 2002 (Accessed May 2, 2011.) http://www.urbancentre.utoronto.ca/pdfs/curp/CNR_Getrifrication-Help-or-.pdf
  • Coster, Naima. The New York Times. "New York Story: Remembering When Brooklyn Was Mine." February 20, 2011 (Accessed May 2, 2011.) http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904E0DC113DF933A15751C0A9679D8B63
  • Grant, Benjamin. POV: Flag Wars. "What is Gentrification?" (Accessed May 2, 2011.) http://www.pbs.org/pov/flagwars/special_gentrification.php
  • Hampson, Rick. USA Today. "Studies: Gentrification is boost for everyone." April 19, 2005 (Accessed May 2, 2011.) http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-04-19-gentrification_x.htm
  • Kiviat, Barbara. Time. "Gentrification: Not Ousting the Poor?" June 29, 2008 http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1818255,00.html
  • Slater, Tom. The New Blackwell Companion to the City. "Gentrification of the City." Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2011 http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/homes/tslater/gotcbridgewatson.pdf

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