Gentrification, With A Twist

What happens when an oppressed community moves into a neighborhood where another oppressed community lives – and starts gentrifying it?

1 minute read

July 1, 2003, 1:00 PM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"Cowboys and Cappuccinos"... That's how gentrification shapes up when wealthy people in search of open space move into rural areas, according to Theresa Singleton of the Housing Assistance Council. This month in Shelterforce, Singleton and other community activists contemplate the changing face of gentrification. Their roundtable discussion was inspired in part by Flag Wars, the PBS/P.O.V. documentary that examined tensions in a historically black, low-income neighborhood of Columbus, OH, when affluent, white gays started buying houses in large numbers. P.O.V invited Shelterforce Editor Harold Simon to moderate an online discussion about gentrification and intergroup tension in general, "Beyond Gentrification: Strategies for Community Change," excerpted here.

Thanks to Miriam Axel-Lute

Tuesday, July 1, 2003 in Shelterforce Online

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