Harlem's Gold Rush: An Urban Planner's Dream?

Harlem's long-term gentrification is an urban planner's dream, but a residents are fighting back.

1 minute read

September 19, 2002, 4:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"What happened over those two decades is an urban planner's dream: booming housing and business markets that are mostly the result of the steadfast work of a tight-knit group of planners, professionals, and politicians who took action after too many bad years. And contrary to popular opinion, the change has not necessarily translated into a white invasion, though that population has increased. The long-term gentrification that has been going on in Harlem is predominantly an influx of the black middle class—professionals from all over the country who want to be part of this "Second Renaissance."Yet many longtime residents are outraged by rents and real estate values that have gone higher than they, or their children, can manage."

Thanks to Planner's Network List

Thursday, September 19, 2002 in The Village Voice

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