gentrification

esidents they should stay in place during the period of white flight; why should anyone argue thatblack homeowners should stay in place when they see their best prospects elsewhere?” 33The San Francisco case study outlines the process of business displacement in the MissionDistrict, where business operators saw large increases in rents and in building sales between 1997and 1999. Displacement in the South of Market area is blamed for a loss of nearly 400manufacturing jobs. 34 Some community development corporation staffers in the case study citiesconcede that some original businesses may be marginally operated or may be losing globalcompetition battles, or their owners may be close to retirement—that is, jobs may be lost due tofactors other than gentrification-induced displacement. While gentrification may push out somebusinesses whose markets have changed or whose lease has run out, a business able to shift withchanging markets can do better when residents in the area have more disposable income.Our case studies reinforced the basic point: Involuntary displacement is most likely to affectthe poorest, most ill-equipped residents of a community. Because in many communities theseresidents include significant numbers of minorities, displacement tends to hit minoritiesdisproportionately hard. With vacancy rates at record low levels in some cities, it is likely that most ofthose displaced were forced to move out to other surrounding communities with somewhat moreaffordable housing opportunities.For these households, both the economic and social costs of displacement can be extremelyhigh. Finally, when a household leaves a neighborhood through displacement, it misses out on theopportunity to share in the social and economic improvements the neighborhood might enjoy infuture generations. Moreover, those future generations in the neighborhood miss out on the historyand grounding those residents might have provided.2. Increasing Tax RevenuesTax revenues are the lifeblood of cities, and a cost to its residents and businesses.Expanding the tax base is particularly critical to city leaders since over the last 20 years cities haveboth lost many higher income tax payers and increased the number of lower-income residents whoneed city services. Each of our four case study cities has lost population and increased itsconcentration of poverty over the past two decades. For example, Atlanta’s population declined by20 percent between 1960 and 1994, and median incomes there declined by almost 25 percent inreal terms. 35 Washington, D.C. is estimated to have lost nearly 35,000 residents between 1990 and2000 36 and the number of households earning more than $50,000 declined slightly between 1990and 1996. 3733 Interview with Stanley Lowe, January, 2000.34 Yee and Quiroz-Martinez, p. 2.35 Walker, Mary Beth, A Population Profile of the City of Atlanta: Trends, Causes and Options. Atlanta:Research Atlanta, Inc., 1997, p. iii and Table 6, p. 8.36 U.S. Census Bureau, Resident Population of the 50 States, the District of Columbia and Puerto: April 1, 2000and April 1, 1990. http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/respop.html#t2.37 Brookings, p. 16.17