Gentrification attracts new residents to the community: middle-class residents who are looking for affordable housing, or what they consider affordable. When middle-income residents move into gentrified communities, rents and real estate prices increase because middle-income residents can afford to pay more. Suppose there is a low-income family who pays $1,000 monthly to live in an apartment complex located in a lower-income neighborhood that is being gentrified. Now, suppose a middle-income family moves into the same apartment complex: a middle-income family that can easily afford to pay $2,000 a month for rent. The landlord will find a way to charge the new family $2,000, or more, for rent and will also raise the rent of long-term residents.
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The word “affordable” can be deceiving and misleading and therefore can be classified as a weasel word. Not everyone makes the same amount of money, which is why not everybody can afford to pay the same amount of rent. When in the process of gentrifying a neighborhood, it is said that housing will still be “affordable” to residents who already live within the neighborhood. If the neighborhood is a lower-income one, then “affordable housing” means it is affordable for the low-income families. However, when residents with a higher education and better paid jobs start residing in what used to be the lower-income neighborhoods; “affordable housing” is now defined by what is affordable to the higher-income families. When residents are told that their rent will still be “affordable”, they do not know whether it will be affordable to them; who make less money. Promoters of gentrification do not specify or go into detail about what price range they are speaking of when using the term “affordable”. Is the affordable housing affordable for those living in poverty? Or is it affordable for middle and higher income families? People in favor of gentrification purposely use this term to deceive residents into believing housing will be affordable to everyone, but how can this be when not everyone makes the same income? Rent prices vary and so does people’s income, which is why
The word “affordable” can be deceiving and misleading and therefore can be classified as a weasel word. Not everyone makes the same amount of money, which is why not everybody can afford to pay the same amount of rent. When in the process of gentrifying a neighborhood, it is said that housing will still be “affordable” to residents who already live within the neighborhood. If the neighborhood is a lower-income one, then “affordable housing” means it is affordable for the low-income families. However, when residents with a higher education and better paid jobs start residing in what used to be the lower-income neighborhoods; “affordable housing” is now defined by what is affordable to the higher-income families. When residents are told that their rent will still be “affordable”, they do not know whether it will be affordable to them; who make less money. Promoters of gentrification do not specify or go into detail about what price range they are speaking of when using the term “affordable”. Is the affordable housing affordable for those living in poverty? Or is it affordable for middle and higher income families? People in favor of gentrification purposely use this term to deceive residents into believing housing will be affordable to everyone, but how can this be when not everyone makes the same income? Rent prices vary and so does people’s income, which is why