Local gentrification

Have you observed any previously rundown area of your city, or living surroundings, undergoing gentrification? If so, is it complete, and how much of an improved was made in your opinion?

Yes, and its a big improvement because they needed it.

Not where I live but they've been doing that in New Brunswick for a while. Still plenty of crime and poverty though. Just not as visible.

Yes. They put a lot of money into a street downtown. It went from pretty scummy to really trendy with a lot of hip, cool shops and restaurants.

When I first moved into my neighborhood it was not very safe and pretty inexpensive. A good deal of the inhabitants were elderly people who did not have a whole lot of money for a better area. The good thing though was the bus service was excellent and there was a couple of good grocery stores walking distance from most apartments or houses.

We also had quite a few interesting and unique characters living here. Many were struggling artists, writers and actors who needed inexpensive places to live.

Over the years, like all neighborhoods in my city, it has become so gentrified only those with a great deal of money can afford to live here. As neighborhoods became more upscale the poorer people and then even those a bit better off could no longer afford to live there.

What was once a nice little interesting and scruffy but unique city has become mundane and boring because of all the "cool" people moving here because they think cool means being like all the other lemmings who have already flocked here.

I understand there are many cities like mine. I plan to move and I hope the city of my destination will not become "cool". Anything but cool.

While some may see these things as improvements and indeed fixing up rundown houses and making the area safer were good things. But this being done at the expense of those who could no longer afford to live here because of these changes does not mean improvment to me.

Spots in Brooklyn and the Bronx, especially the south Bronx, have been under gentrification for years. They build brand new, mostly luxury, apartment buildings and condos in hopes of attracting more desirable people to the neighborhood. Property value goes up, which makes the surrounding rents go up, then the hood folks are forced out because they can't afford it. It's tremendous in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights.

I guess that is the way it is everywhere with transformation from a real community of creative ppl to a fake community of affluent renovators.

I like that. It's like someone said about Portland on another website in describing the changes here.

"Portland's transformation from a gritty but highly livable middle-class town to a fad-obsessed theme park"