Gentrification

I find it fascinating that some people don’t understand gentrification as of 2020. I have had a few conversations recently, all leading me to say the same sentence: That’s called gentrification. They all seem confused when I say it.

I live in a rural, agricultural area. Not an urban area, where gentrification got its infamy. The poor people here are white and the gentry moving in is white. I’ve heard them endearingly called “the flatlanders.” City slickers with a hankering for some peace and quiet. Ignoring the reasons behind their population doubling in a decade.

As a direct effect of the last oil bust, property values in the area dropped while “flatlanders” ate it up for cheap. They fixed up the properties and sold them to other newcomers with higher incomes. Demanding more police. Creating new lines of where poor people can and can’t go.

They began to open businesses and form communities. This is gentrification. Just because someone is not black, Mexican, or Native American, doesn’t mean gentrification doesn’t happen. That stereotype was ingrained in our heads to demonize those groups of people to ward off the inconvenience of helping them.

It happens everywhere, and to everyone, and the shiny spotlight is placed on how safe that neighbor is now compared to what it used to be. We should be able to recognize when it happens to us because of how we see it happen to other people. So why can’t my conversation partners see it?

One possibility is that they didn’t care if it happened to those “others”, they’ve maybe even said it was a good thing. So, why would they care if it’s happening to their own neighborhood? Maybe they agree with the principle and just have to adjust their brain to accept that: of course it would happen to poor white people too. Poor people of every color should suffer the same. Ok. I can buy that. It’s Stockholm syndrome, but it’s also real.

And it’s also a keystone of the conservative mindset: Find some fucking bootstraps or die. Don’t care how.

I get it. But let me try to tell you why you should be concerned about gentrification. Most people understand the surface topic: rich people move in and the poor community that is being displaced is over policed. Property values go up and the generations that had lived there before can’t afford it anymore, or maybe their homes are condemned. Then a nice new coffee shop shows up and a whole bunch of newbies start a yoga practice in the park. Right? That’s it for most folks that I know personally.

Well, that’s not it. Low income areas that get gentrified had their own problems to begin with (that was probably enhanced by a different area being gentrified earlier, but we’ll get into that.)

Some of the pre-existing conditions may include, but are not limited to: homelessness, extreme poverty close to losing their homes, low income renters that actually need rent to stay the same because, let’s face it, their pay is staying the same. A surplus of people that are uninsured or underinsured for health insurance, and subsequently have unknown amounts of health problems that go untreated. Unless, there is a support in that community like a free clinic. Mental health largely goes untreated in all walks of life, so it’s not a mystery why poor people, even if they know they need it, don’t seek help. It’s also criminalized, so, there’s the law enforcement hitch.

Gentrification criminalizes poor people. The influx of new business in the area, as mentioned before, not only has benefits for the business class and consumer class, but brings in more law enforcement to protect businesses and more valuable property; only to arrest or displace an already vulnerable population from how they were surviving, to another place. Another place already struggling with those same problems. Do you see the dominos yet?

Taxes go to building and staffing more jails. Meanwhile, as the property values go up in the neighborhood and more families move in, their raised property taxes now help fund a once desperate school. It begins to thrive and people start to want their kids to go there. They get a new gym and a 3D printer! They get a school counselor and an art class! Do you see the other side to this?

It doesn’t matter where it happens, poor children suffer. Their education is based on their zip code. It’s just the wrong way to live together. There are other options to this very common and cherished tradition, and I’d like to leave you with some of them as you marinate with above information.

1. As in urban areas, rural areas that are gentrified will disproportionately affect people of color and immigrant workers by the negative affects of displacement. Listen to their stories and what they need for solutions, they’re old hands at this and we will all benefit from following their lead.

2. When you see boarded up buildings and general disrepair in your area, talk to your neighbors about revamping the place. Think of uses for those buildings that YOUR community could use to improve it. Then all of you show up to the city hall meeting and demand the reforms your taxes are paying for.

3. Organize a community clean up. Your city has funds to help with this. If during this clean up you run into a bridge that’s crumbling or a tree that hasn’t been trimmed and is blocking a sign or interfering with electric lines, bring that up at city hall too.

4. Support your neighborhood school and lobby on their behalf. Hard and constantly.

As I mentioned before, talking with your neighbors about all of this will allow more people to participate at an efficient level. Not everyone has the same schedule or resources. The more people involved, the more opportunities the community will have to voice issues and influence your local legislature.

And I can’t stress this enough: unionize. Have someone on your side as a working class community. This has the potential to open doors to more resources such as legal defense and innovative solutions. Job loss, pay cuts, loss of benefits, education, incarceration, and homelessness: all touch on gentrification. Many different bandaids and surgeries need to happen to save low income communities and the salt they bring to the earth. Unions can help.

We can do this together in this changing word. And we can do it with compassion. Talk to your neighbors. See how they’re doing. Get together and plan your own city. Otherwise, someone else will plan it for you. Now is the time to connect with and make strong communities.

Here are some links to resources that may help you get started:

The 5 Basic Steps to Starting a Union:

https://www.ueunion.org/org_steps.html

The Benefits of Organizing a Community Clean Up:

http://www.grassrootsgrantmakers.org/wp-content/uploads/Neighborhood_Cleanup.pdf

And finally: https://smea.uw.edu/currents/how-to-be-a-political-influence-as-an-average-citizen/