Understanding Gentrification In San Francisco

"It is 27 years late, but the San Francisco Chronicle has finally discovered that San Francisco is becoming a city of the rich and poor. The paper’s June 22 banner headline “RICH CITY, POOR CITY” discussed a Brookings Institution finding that middle-class neighborhoods are declining in urban America, and the Chronicle then found evidence of this trend in San Francisco. But the Chronicle omitted some critical facts that undermine its conclusion that neighborhoods like the Western Addition have shifted from “middle-class” to “low-income.” The Chronicle also failed to reflect the dramatic changes in San Francisco’s demographics in the six years since the Brookings study was completed. Since a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, here are the factsâ€"and the even more troubling conclusions--- missing from the Chronicle’s analysis."