Money Crashers: What Does Gentrification Mean for Neighborhoods?

My latest article on Money Crashers was inspired by one of my favorite podcasts, Science Vs. In a typical episode of this show, the hosts tackle a contentious topic, usually one that's been getting a bit of news coverage recently, and explore the science behind it. It was this show that convinced me non-dairy "schmilks" were better for the planet than milk, and that first clued me in that organic food might not actually be better for the environment. And even when an episode only tells me what I already knew (such as, "Yes, climate change is definitely real and dangerous"), it's fun to listen to.

This particular episode dealt with the topic of gentrification. The questions it sought to address were:

• Does gentrification really force long-time residents out of their homes?
• Are newcomers in gentrifying areas more likely to call the cops on their neighbors?
• Does gentrification provide benefits like more jobs and better schools? And if so, for whom?

This topic interested me because, a year or two earlier, I'd gotten into a heated debate on Medium on this topic. I'd just recently seen an article about a study that found the answer to this first question, contrary to popular belief, is no, and I brought it up in the comments section of the article "Optimization is Gentrification." The author of the original article merely raised a few reasonable quibbles about my comment, but another reader violently attacked it, arguing that I clearly "wasn't from around here" and "didn't know what I was talking about," and that if I believed any study that appeared to show gentrification was anything but an unmitigated evil, I was either "deluded" or "so privileged that nothing could touch me." I kept trying to steer the discussion away from the personal and toward the practical by seeking out and referring to other studies, but she merely slammed me for "citing statistics" at her about a topic that, to her, was deeply personal.

I eventually gave up, realizing that this person had no interest in talking about what I wanted to talk about: the ways in which gentrification could be both positive and negative, and how it might be possible to maximize the positive effects while mitigating the negative ones. But the thing is, even if she wasn't interested in talking about it, I still was. And after listening to the podcast, it occurred to me that I actually had a way of bringing it up that might reach more readers, possibly including some whose minds weren't already made up.

So, in my Money Crashers piece on gentrification, I've done my best to explore the issue from every possible angle. I've considered all the claims made about gentrification, both by supporters and by opponents, and examined every study I could find to see which ones were borne out by the evidence. I've delved into gentrification's complicated impact on displacement, culture, property values, local business, schools, and crime, as well as and the problems that non-gentrifying neighborhoods face compared to gentrifying ones. And I've tried to present all this data in a way in as clear and compelling a way as possible.

Here's what I came up with. Like my detractor on Medium, you may not like my conclusions, but you can't accuse me of not doing my homework.

What Does Gentrification Mean for Neighborhoods? – Benefits vs. Negative Effects