The Importance Of Gentrification

Have you ever wondered why people from different communities claim one side of town to be the better or bad part of town? What we, as a society, do not realize or most times understand, is that the affluent, middle and lower-class households actually have an unspoken symbiotic relationship with one another. The rich are dependent upon the middle and lower-classes, the middle class is dependent on the affluent and lower-class and the lower class is dependent upon the upper and middle class. All of the societal tiers provide one another with the means or purpose to live and survive. The evidence of this statement can be seen in everyday life at the local McDonalds, Walmart, local schools, government agencies etc. Communities have mostly
Gentrification is defined by Merriam Webster dictionary as, “the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents.” One such “gentrification” incident happened in the middle of the 19th century with New York’s Central park. An area once called Seneca Village was home to around 264 people according to the 1855 census survey. This track of land was nestled between 82nd and 87th streets which lays east of what is now called Central Park. Homeowners in this area were primarily of poorer African American, Irish and German decent who raised hogs and planted vegetable plots. The large landowners expressed concern that the area would “soon be covered with a class population similar to that of five points”, which at the time was a slum. The area of Seneca Village was viewed as an eye sore to the upper class of New York City who saw a way to bring more wealthy people to the area while displacing the poorer
He offered up “gangs of convicts from Blackwell’s island, and paupers from the station houses” as a way to cut construction costs. Harsen was concerned about the rise in property assessments due to the cost of construction for the park even though he could envision the wealthy driving carriages through the park. Eventually eminent domain, the “right” of a government or its agent to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation, was the method used for clearing out this area of immigrants and African Americans. Gentrification was at the root of this “claiming” of land by the city. NYC (as many know it today) is thought to be one of the first American communities to use gentrification actions to accommodate the richer, upper class agendas. Little did they know it was the poor and middle class that they needed to accomplish such a project. Many large cities have used gentrification as a means to “update” or “appeal” to the upper and middle-class tiers of American society. Chicago is another example of a large city with a growing population in today’s society. Chicago’s increase in population without a growth to their housing market causes housing prices to sky rocket and forces lower income families to forgo purchasing real estate. According to the Chicago Tribune’s Blair Kamin and Patrick Reardon,