Gentrification In Harlem
Invaders?
Gentrification is affecting the African American community in Harlem negatively because it is slowly wiping out black owned businesses. A lot believe it negatively changes the culture of neighborhoods. People might argue that it creates more jobs and brings in a more educated and wealthier population to the area being gentrified, which can improve the community in the long run. Gentrification is the enemy of the poor, and does little to aid those who are forced to move out. Those who support it are only interested in profits rather than improving communities. Gentrification forces middle and low-income residents out of Harlem, ruins their small businesses and changes life.
Harlem’s culture and population …show more content…
The first sign of gentrification is when big developers, investment bankers, and real estate brokers begin to look into property in a neighborhood. The article The Gentrification of Harlem, Schaffer and Smith talks about how In Harlem there is now a real-estate boom. Their neighborhood's magnificent 19th-century town houses are being snapped up at a rapid rate. “Harlem hit bottom in the 1980s when poverty, neglected housing and drug-related crime took their toll”( Schaffer and Smith 2). The increase of crime in the area dropped the price of property value . Investors and developers quickly took advantage of the more affordable land and are buying out huge portions of …show more content…
They act like they are interested in improving the communities but, the truth is only interested in making money. Those interested in gentrifying claim they are enhancing the community through “housing improvements and loft conversions, service upgrades, and expansion of the local economy as a whole” (Freeman and Braconi 63). The only thing they offer back to Harlem’s community are jobs. Somebody is going to have to build those condos and commercial areas. The jobs are only temporary, because once the project is done, every one gets laid off. jobs created to maintain the new gentrified neighborhoods do not compare to the number of people who give up their homes and those in the neighboring areas that are also affected when a neighborhood goes through gentrification (Freeman and Braconi 63-64). Those interested in gentrifying an area need to hide their real objectives in order for the state to allow them to begin taking over these neighborhoods. Therefore, they have to act like they care about the community. But, in reality, gentrification is an investment and the outcome desired is profit. As the investors buy out land they are taking pieces of the cultural make up of
Gentrification is affecting the African American community in Harlem negatively because it is slowly wiping out black owned businesses. A lot believe it negatively changes the culture of neighborhoods. People might argue that it creates more jobs and brings in a more educated and wealthier population to the area being gentrified, which can improve the community in the long run. Gentrification is the enemy of the poor, and does little to aid those who are forced to move out. Those who support it are only interested in profits rather than improving communities. Gentrification forces middle and low-income residents out of Harlem, ruins their small businesses and changes life.
Harlem’s culture and population …show more content…
The first sign of gentrification is when big developers, investment bankers, and real estate brokers begin to look into property in a neighborhood. The article The Gentrification of Harlem, Schaffer and Smith talks about how In Harlem there is now a real-estate boom. Their neighborhood's magnificent 19th-century town houses are being snapped up at a rapid rate. “Harlem hit bottom in the 1980s when poverty, neglected housing and drug-related crime took their toll”( Schaffer and Smith 2). The increase of crime in the area dropped the price of property value . Investors and developers quickly took advantage of the more affordable land and are buying out huge portions of …show more content…
They act like they are interested in improving the communities but, the truth is only interested in making money. Those interested in gentrifying claim they are enhancing the community through “housing improvements and loft conversions, service upgrades, and expansion of the local economy as a whole” (Freeman and Braconi 63). The only thing they offer back to Harlem’s community are jobs. Somebody is going to have to build those condos and commercial areas. The jobs are only temporary, because once the project is done, every one gets laid off. jobs created to maintain the new gentrified neighborhoods do not compare to the number of people who give up their homes and those in the neighboring areas that are also affected when a neighborhood goes through gentrification (Freeman and Braconi 63-64). Those interested in gentrifying an area need to hide their real objectives in order for the state to allow them to begin taking over these neighborhoods. Therefore, they have to act like they care about the community. But, in reality, gentrification is an investment and the outcome desired is profit. As the investors buy out land they are taking pieces of the cultural make up of