Gentrification

Gentrification

("gentry") acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with migration within a population. In a community undergoing gentrification, the average income increases and average family size decreases. This generally results in the displacement of the poorer, pre-gentrification residents, who are unable to pay increased rents or house prices and property taxes. Often old industrial buildings are converted to residences and shops. In addition, new businesses, catering to a more affluent base of consumers and those that can afford increased commercial rent, move in, further increasing the appeal to more affluent migrants and decreasing the accessibility to the poor.

Political action, either to promote or oppose the gentrification, is often the community's response against unintended economic eviction. This is caused by rising rents that make continued residence in their dwellings unfeasible for poorer residents. The rise in property values causes property taxes based on property values to increase; resident owners unable to pay the taxes are forced to sell their dwellings and move to a cheaper community.