06-26-2015, 03:02 AM
(06-26-2015, 01:56 AM)BuildingScout Wrote: So you are telling me that there are people out there, living in a crime ridden part of town saying "man, this darn gentrification, with its safer, cleaner streets and better public schools"?
No? There are people who lived in low-rent units that have been demolished, or currently live in ones that there is pressure to redevelop. None of the replacements are going to be low-rent, and there is the pretty real possibility that people in that situation will be forced to live in more outlying areas and/or share housing with more people per unit. What good is it to you that your neighbourhood is nicer if you can no longer afford to live there?
The harm in pushing low-income people out of downtown is that their access to services and employment opportunities is reduced, and transportation costs go up - so it makes living on a low income harder.
(I'm not sure what schools have to do with it, since funding isn't dependent on the district a school is in....)
I think the real solution is to allow lots of new housing to be built to put downward pressure on market rents, and to have strong incentives or programs to create subsidized housing in areas (like downtown) with good access. Right now the latter isn't really happening to any significant degree.