Where do some residents stand when it comes to gentrification and redevelopment?
Everyone is entitled by birthright to live in a quality environment, not just those of financial means. Many people are not aware that gentrification is a decades-long process that begins with a community being divested from, abandoned and essentially “left for dead” by government, corporate and private land owners. These entities sit on the land, preventing its development and promoting “blight,” and wait for market forces to converge in a manner that the area is attractive to a higher income group of people – the “gentry.” Gentrification and displacement are a direct result of discrimination against low and moderate income people, predominately people of color, who are often the native people or the existing residents in an area. Historically, banks “red-lined” entire communities, refusing to make loans to residents in those areas. That type of discrimination continues to exist, if more covert, through the promotion of high-end chain stores and high-end housing over small business an
