What is Gentrification?
"I think there are some very evil things about gentrification." - Jim McKay
What Google Says?
When the word 'Gentrification' is typed into Google, these words appear:
The process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste.
When we deconstruct this definition, some startling things appear. For instance, why does a society have to conform to the tastes of a specific group of people - the middle class? Secondly, how far would a society go in order to accommodate the desires of the middle class, i.e. Grenfell Tower ( 14 June 2017 ). Thirdly, why does one specific group have enough power to determine the whims of all society's endeavors?
What about the little man?
So, let's say we are pro-gentrification, and the whole of society becomes a doormat for the middle class, what about the little man? What about the average Joe, the working class, and the vulnerable? Are these people somehow insignificant?
The reason we have a working class, is mainly to support and work for the middle class ideally, right. So, if the working class is put under undue pressure by moving to and fro, because of gentrification, how can the livelihoods of such people be a healthy one? If the middle class had enough empathy to step into the lives of those afflicted, they would realize such experiences are inhumane.
Conclusion?
On surface, gentrification looks like a great idea for society - better houses and better roads - but at what cost must the powerless pay for such a scheme? Society may look beautiful on the outside, but you never know what it's heart is like until you hear tragedies on the news.
So you mean that it would, in a way, kick out lower class families who cannot afford the new "improved" homes?
This is the downside.
Hopefully instead it will create a surplus supply of bette housing therefore causing the prices to remain affordable.
Not likely though, real estate and land ownership is a VERY profittable business and I don't see that changing. Could a nonforprofit step in and buy? I can hope