General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The 5 Phases of Gentrification -- When can it be stopped? [View all]GreatGazoo
(4,674 posts)which ties in to the phases. The "pioneers" leave at some point because what attracted them (edginess, value and unique character) is no longer there. Phase 4 and 5 are just about money, not how desirable it is to live there (because the new owners don't). Having an inhuman institution for a landlord is undesirable for almost anyone.
There is a neighborhood on the east end of Williamsburg Brooklyn which was almost all Italian immigrants -- no drugs, low crime, reasonable rents. When you go into a store the person behind the counter owns the store. Butchers cut meat to order and the shop is buzzing with neighbors talking. That isn't "shittiness", that is community. They have hung together even as gentrification rages. On Metropolitan Avenue it is typical for three to five 20-somethings to split 2 bedroom apts at $2600/month but the interior blocks, 200 feet away, are almost all owner occupied by the 2nd or 3rd generation that has lived there.