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Poverty Is Spreading Faster Than Gentrification
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Dec 10, 2014
Modified Dec 10, 2014
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Dec 10, 2014
Modified Dec 10, 2014
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Gentrification has forced rents to skyrocket, pushed out Mom & Pop shops, and contributed to the rise of NY Times trend pieces. But it turns out the Whole Foods-and-J. Crew-set aren't actually ruining the rest of the country fast enough, according to a new study that found the number of very poor neighborhoods have tripled over the last 40 years. Time to send in the trilbies, America!
According to a study published in City Observatory, "three times as many urban neighborhoods have poverty rates exceeding 30 percent as was true in 1970," with only about 100 of 1970's 1,100 high-poverty urban neighborhoods experiencing a poverty reduction clocking in below the national average. There are also twice as many poor individuals living in the country's poorest neighborhoods now as there were 40 years ago.
The study notes that as housing stock ages, values fall, making them more attractive to poor families. And neighborhoods with high poverty rates often lose people who end up making enough money to move out, leaving a poorer class behind. Gentrification, apparently, is still a rarity:
The growth in the number of poor persons living in “fallen star” neighborhoods dwarfs the decrease in the poverty population in “rebounding” neighborhoods. Since 1970, the poor population in rebounding neighborhoods fell by 67,000 while the number of poor persons living in fallen star neighborhoods increased by 1.25 million.
A few places have gentrified, experienced a reduction in poverty, and generated net population growth. But those areas that don’t rebound don’t remain stable: they deteriorate, lose population, and overwhelmingly remain high-poverty neighborhoods. Meanwhile, we are continually creating new high-poverty neighborhoods.
Not that gentrification isn't a problem—as we've certainly seen, when neighborhoods gentrify, poorer families get pushed into neighborhoods with higher poverty rates. As the Guardian points out, the Land of Gentrification that is Brooklyn boasted four of the poorest neighborhoods in the city 10 years ago. Two Williamsburg Starbuckses later, it has five of the poorest neighborhoods—and two of the wealthiest.
Well, we'll always have Staten Island....maybe
Tagged
brooklyn
gentrification
poverty
Rebecca Fishbein
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