With concerns about gentrification sometimes, and in some places, dominating the discussion, it can be difficult to advocate for revitalization.

Miriam Axel-Lute provides a dispatch from the Reclaiming Vacant Properties 2019 conference, and specifically from a session titled "Advocating for Revitalization When All Anyone Wants to Talk About Is Gentrification"
According to Axel-Lute, this breakout session, packed with interested observers and participants, brainstormed ideas for messaging strategies in response to assumptions about gentrification and revitalization. After reviewing the substance of presentations by several panelists and the audience at the session, Axel-Lute lists a five strategies and a view sample messages for use in these challenging urban development scenarios.
More detail is included in the article, but here's the Axel-Lutes list of tips:
- "Make sure your market analysis is up-to-date, and share your reasons."
- "Don’t be dismissive of people’s concerns."
- "Remember that many kinds of fears get lumped under the term 'gentrification.'"
- "Acknowledge that community development hasn’t always gotten anti-displacement protections right in the past."
- "Involve residents in Planning."
And some sample messages, also with more details included in the article:
- 'Disinvestment displaces people too.'
- 'We’re serving people with neighborhood connections.'
- 'More LIHTC won’t necessarily help our renters.'
- 'We have space.'
- 'Stable neighborhoods are more protected against gentrification.'
FULL STORY: Talking About Revitalization When All Anyone Wants to Talk About Is Gentrification

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units
Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing
The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant
A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing
Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions