The 5 Phases of Gentrification -- When can it be stopped?

[Gormy Cuss]

51. They worked until other policies undermined them

and in recent years some housing policies have sought to bring back mixed income communities. Bear in mind that such communities aren't intended to be very low income to high income mixes but rather places with mix of incomes from 80% of the median to very low income.


No doubt redlining enhanced "white flight" but it's been against the law for decades. I agree that cities should try to mitigate the disruptions caused by gentrification -- and that probably includes ensuring that the displacement doesn't turn the city into an exclusive upper income ghetto, no only because of the social value of diversity but because of practical concerns like decreased local worker pools and increased traffic as some of those former city people are now commuting long distances by car. Witness San Francisco, where there were about 95K African-American residents in the 1970s and less than 60K now; where the vibrant Latino immigrant area is turning into a tech worker gulch even more rapidly. One of the problems in San Francisco is that the city has been slow to embrace higher density housing so when more money comes in, lower income residents have nowhere to go except far outside of the city.