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Gentrification Is A Myth (slate.com)

gregconstantine が 投稿

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[–]TheBrainReigns 10ポイント11ポイント  (18子コメント)

I went to gentrification talk one time that was all about trying to get ahead of gentrification in Station North. It was informative and productive for sure, but it was kind of obvious that nobody in the room (almost all white people) was very concerned about the poor people who cant afford to live in Federal Hill or Canton anymore. The point being is that "gentrification" is a very racialized term. The connotation is "white people moving into black neighborhoods".

I'm not arguing that Gentrification is never a problem, but people often take a very shallow view of the situation.

[–]1x10forever 31ポイント32ポイント  (12子コメント)

What people love to overlook is the fact that rich white people don't go into a neighborhood and march out the poor black folk Trail of Tears style.

Rather, they first get a foothold buying vacants. Station North 8 years ago was a desolate, blighted wasteland with more vacant crack dens than actual tenants with the lights on.

No one got forced out...no one was even living there!

Not to say displacement doesn't ever happen, but gentrification is certainly not the bogeyman that it is often painted as.

[–]TheBrainReigns 9ポイント10ポイント  (0子コメント)

You can go on google streetveiw and toggle to the images from around 2007 in Greenmount West and Station North. It looks more like "West Baltimore" than what it is today.

[–]ATRIOHEADButchers Hill 3ポイント4ポイント  (10子コメント)

No one got forced out...no one was even living there!

my neighbors got forced out. rad couple; house used to be owned by grandmother and then aunt. just can no longer afford it. dude sells tires and she is in admin somewhere. still though, neighborhood is overwhelmingly better than several years ago, and still better all the time. station north is a great example; agreed!

[–]snarky_darky 21ポイント22ポイント  (8子コメント)

If the house was owned by their family for years why couldn't they afford it? Had to been paid off, only thing to pay is taxes... right?

[–]sklein382Canton 3ポイント4ポイント  (3子コメント)

And taxes are pretty much kept in check through Homestead credits.

I don't think it forces poor people out as much as once people move out through natural attrition they are replaced by higher income (at least for owners, renters are probably a different issue).

[–]verdatum 1ポイント2ポイント  (2子コメント)

The last I'd heard, almost no one managed to make successful use of that homestead concept in baltimore. The ones that did, picked up multiple row-houses and merged them into larger places; requiring massive loans to cover the construction.

But this knowledge was from like 6 years ago; haven't been following too closely.

[–]sklein382Canton 2ポイント3ポイント  (1子コメント)

I have a homestead credit, it just caps the maximum increase in property taxes so your taxes don't spiral out of control if property values increase dramatically. It was a pretty simple application.

I think the more common fraudulent scenario is people who used the credits on rental properties, but that didn't really hurt anyone aside from the City.

[–]verdatum -1ポイント0ポイント  (0子コメント)

Oh neat, I was not aware that it worked that way (I don't live in the city).

[–]ATRIOHEADButchers Hill 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

good point; nobody is 100% a victim. yeah, you'd think that specifically in those cases, and with financial awareness, one could really take advantage of a great situation :)

edit: like when i say "my neighbors got forced out", i understand that it really means "my neighbors say they got forced out"

[–]Autumn_SweaterMedfield -1ポイント0ポイント  (2子コメント)

There are plenty of ways lenders etc. can target someone who owns a house in a neighborhood on the rise who is cash poor. For example, if the person is old enough they can be talked into a "reverse mortgage" where they continue living there but their equity in the house slowly pisses away.

[–]brianlouiswPatterson Park 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

Don't most reverse mortgages include clauses that basically keep the owner in the house until their death?

It's much more likely this family had taken out multiple HELOC or refinanced over the years and has spent that money. Leads to a different set of discussions about the difficulties of living on social security, etc.

Not to mention that all current Baltimore homeowners get to pay the full exorbitant property taxes, while all the new renovations include a $50k/10y credit.

[–]1x10forever 4ポイント5ポイント  (0子コメント)

Some rent control seems like a good idea. The City Arts building seems like a shining example to me.

[–]ABCosmos 2ポイント3ポイント  (1子コメント)

Station north isn't a historically black neighborhood. Black people moved into those neighborhoods after white flight. Now different white people are moving back. It's not really true gentrification like in other cities, Baltimore doesn't really have gentrification in the strict sense, we do have beautiful historic architecture abandoned and crumbling, desperately in need of anyone interested in saving those neighborhoods.

It seems like we should be helping the working class buy homes instead of renting, then they can benefit from any increased interest in their neighborhood.

[–]lowlatitude 4ポイント5ポイント  (0子コメント)

Saying people should be able to purchase home through some sort of assistance sounds great, but the continued costs of maintenance, increasing property taxes, and other expenditures that renters typically avoid in real-time make owning a home unrealistic for many. Homes are not investments, they are the biggest liability that people have unless it's an income producing property with real revenue. We've been misguided for decades about that reality.