Gentrification Research Paper

Gentrification is seen by most of the public as the buying and renovating of houses, stores and buildings in deteriorated urban neighborhoods by wealthier individuals which increases property values and displaces low-income families. If we look at the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition we see it is defined as the process by which an urban area is rendered middle-class (“gentrifi’cation, n”). Gentrification is more than a renovation to an area or neighborhood, it is a controversial topic of class and race. The term was first used by urban geographer Ruth Glass in the 1960’s to describe the phenomenon of the upper middle-class buying property in London’s East End. She meant it as a negative term using the word gentry, or ruling class, to show her concern for the displaced …show more content…
Businesses, then move in to the area charging higher prices driving the competition up. This usually displaces minorities and lower income families allowing upper class Caucasians to move in and alter the neighborhood. In my own hometown of Fort Gibson, Oklahoma a new power plant was built for the town of Muskogee (bigger town across the Arkansas River from us). The plant is situated in Fort Gibson school district meaning Muskogee schools don’t receive the money from the plant. In the first five years the plant generated $13 million for the Fort Gibson School giving it some of the best facilities in the state (Vandewater). This brought to our small poor town big interest. Many upper and middle class white families started to relocate for the better school and it drove out many poor farmers and forced many African American or Native American families to move to one of the enclaves in the bigger towns of Muskogee or Tulsa. Brian Doucet examines how the process of gentrification in Edinburgh, doesn’t only consist of gentrifiers and the displaced but other residents who see the process as positive for the