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The Changing Face of Cities

A Gentrification is a common phenomenon of urban life. When a neighborhood or part of a city is gentrified, it changes from being a poor area to a richer one because people of a higher economic class move there. The gentrification of a neighborhood can lead to higher property values and rents. As a result, poorer residents and local stores are often driven out. In most U.S. cities, the rise of the global economy has changed traditional structures of urban life. Most factory jobs have been moved overseas or have been automated, and professional white-collar jobs and low-paid service jobs have taken their place. Consequently, more professionals seeking to be closer to their jobs have moved out of the suburbs and back to the cities, raising rents and pushing out poorer residents.

B Gentrification has completely changed the city of New York over the past two decades. With sky-high rents, many neighborhoods in the city are too expensive for most people. Several neighborhoods have changed dramatically. Times Square, once a seedy area filled with sex shops and strip clubs, is now home to stores such as Disney and NBA. The once desolate industrial wasteland of SoHo is now lined with art galleries, designer shops, and sophisticated restaurants. In spite of gentrification, places such as the East Village have managed to keep the artistic spirit that first attracted people to the neighborhood. Still, rising rents and the high cost of living remain serious problems for those who can longer to afford to live in this metropolis.

C Gentrification has come to San Francisco more recently. Over the past five years, the Internet boom has completely changed the face of a city that was once home to large populations of immigrants, African-Americans, artists, and working class men and women. Now, the population is overwhelmingly white, rich, and under 40. Between 1997 and 1999, commercial real estate prices rose 47 percent. With existing rents for two-bedroom apartments reaching $4,000 a month, artists can't afford to rent work space; low-income families can't afford apartments; and immigrants are getting pushed outside the city. In fact, the housing crisis caused by the dot-com boom goes beyond San Francisco, reaching across the whole Bay Area and Silicon Valley, the heart of the technology industry.

D You may be asking yourself, "Is gentrification good or bad?" This is a question that policy makers, politicians, and residents ask themselves every day. On one hand, having the opportunity to live in a safe, clean neighborhood is a positive result of gentrification. Old buildings are renovated; neighborhoods become less dangerous; and local commerce thrives. Yet, how would you feel if I you could no longer afford to live in that same safe, clean neighborhood? What happens when your favorite stores close as they are replaced with chain stores and franchises and small-business owners are forced to move elsewhere? Some say that with strategic planning, neighborhoods can be renewed and long-time residents and small-business owners can be protected: neighborhood renewal does not necessarily mean the same thing as gentrification. However, others argue that despite tenants’ rights associations and rent-controlled properties (apartments for which the rents cannot increase over a certain amount), the displacement of local residents is inevitable.

Understanding the Main Idea

Which of the following statements are true according to the reading? Write T on those lines. Which statements are false? Write F on those lines.


1		When a neighborhood is gentrified, it goes from being richer to being poorer.


2		Times Square and SoHo are examples of neighborhoods that have been gentrified.


3		Gentrification in San Francisco has made it a very expensive place to live.


4		Gentrification is a phenomenon that leads to positive and negative results.

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