Misplaced Pages

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60-473: Built for $ 60,000 and opened in 1959, the pedestrian mall became the first of several hundred built in the United States. The bold effort to make a downtown street car-free as a spur to urban vitality and a defense against suburbanization drew national attention to Kalamazoo, which was dubbed "Mall City". Initially, two blocks of Burdick Street were closed; a third block was added the following year and

120-425: A Starbucks , and (c) my neighbors and I can no longer afford to live here ( community displacement )". Palen & London (1984) compiled five explanations for gentrification since the 1970s: Other explanations propose that as people tire of the automobile-dependent urban sprawl style of life, they move to urban areas, in particular to homes near public transit stations. The increase in professional jobs in

180-581: A big band concert like the one in 1959. A raffle was held to pick a citizen to drive the first car down the mall in four decades. The mall has since been restyled to resemble the Arcadia Commons development at the mall's north end, where the Kalamazoo Valley Museum is located. 42°17′32″N 85°35′02″W  /  42.29222°N 85.58388°W  / 42.29222; -85.58388 Urban vitality Urban vitality

240-462: A comprehensive plan for its city center. That plan included a pedestrian zone modeled on those of European cities. Kalamazoo officials, who were similarly seeking to reverse declines brought on by suburbanization, sought a similar plan. They hired Gruen to design a less-ambitious plan for their own downtown area. Presented in March 1958 and dubbed Kalamazoo 1980, the plan included a ring road to encircle

300-662: A district it goes on rapidly, until all or most of the original working-class occupiers are displaced and the whole social character of the district is changed. In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report Health Effects of Gentrification defines the real estate concept of gentrification as "the transformation of neighborhoods from low value to high value." A real estate encyclopedia defines gentrification as "the process by which central urban neighborhoods that have undergone disinvestments and economic decline experience

360-519: A drop in the number of children per household, increased education among residents, the number of non-traditional types of households, and a general upwards shift in income. Just as critical to the gentrification process as creating a favorable environment is the availability of the 'gentry,' or those who will be first-stage gentrifiers. The typical gentrifiers are affluent and have professional-level, service industry jobs, many of which involve self-employment . Therefore, they are willing and able to take

420-518: A fourth in 1975. In 1998, the southern two blocks were reopened to auto traffic, albeit a single southbound lane only. The two blocks of Burdick from Eleanor Street to W. Michigan Avenue are designated North Kalamazoo Mall; the two blocks south of W. Michigan to W. Lovell Street, South Kalamazoo Mall. The mall was designed by Victor Gruen , who three years earlier had designed the country's first enclosed shopping mall . A native of Austria, Gruen had been hired for Fort Worth, Texas , in 1957 to design

480-522: A higher likelihood of eviction." A 2020 study which followed children from low-income families in New York found no evidence that gentrification was associated with changes in mobility rates. The study also found "that children who start out in a gentrifying area experience larger improvements in some aspects of their residential environment than their counterparts who start out in persistently low-socioeconomic status areas." A 2023 study by economists at

540-677: A metropolitan area. The gentrification process is typically the result of increasing attraction to an area by people with higher incomes spilling over from neighboring cities, towns, or neighborhoods. Further steps are increased investments in a community and the related infrastructure by real estate development businesses, local government, or community activists and resulting economic development , increased attraction of business, and lower crime rates. Historians say that gentrification took place in ancient Rome and in Roman Britain , where large villas were replacing small shops by

600-415: A neighborhood, changing the essential character and flavour of that neighborhood", so distinguishing it from the different socio-economic process of "neighborhood (or urban) revitalization", although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Gentrification has been described as a natural cycle: the well-to-do prefer to live in the newest housing stock. Each decade of a city's growth, a new ring of housing

660-401: A pejorative connotation. Gentrification is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning . Gentrification often increases the economic value of a neighborhood, but can be controversial due to changing demographic composition and potential displacement of incumbent residents. Gentrification is more likely when there is an undersupply of housing and rising home values in

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720-416: A process "in which members of the 'new middle class' move into and physically and culturally reshape working-class inner city neighbourhoods". Kennedy & Leonard (2001) say in their Brookings Institution report that "the term 'gentrification' is both imprecise and quite politically charged", suggesting its redefinition as "the process by which higher income households displace lower income residents of

780-538: A return to the inner city but is more of a positive action to remain there. The stereotypical gentrifiers also have shared consumer preferences and favor a largely consumerist culture. This fuels the rapid expansion of trendy restaurant, shopping, and entertainment spheres that often accompany the gentrification process. Holcomb and Beauregard described these groups as those who are "attracted by low prices and toleration of an unconventional lifestyle". An interesting find from research on those who participate and initiate

840-683: A reversal, reinvestment, and the in-migration of a well-off middle- and upper-middle-class population." Scholars and pundits have applied a variety of definitions to gentrification since 1964, some oriented around gentrifiers, others oriented around the displaced, and some a combination of both. The first category include the Hackworth (2002) definition "the production of space for progressively more affluent users". The second category include Kasman's definition "the reduction of residential and retail space affordable to low-income residents". The final category includes Rose, who describes gentrification as

900-413: A social rise that brings new standards in consumption, particularly in the form of excess and superfluity, to the area that were not held by the pre-existing residents. These differing norms can lead to conflict, which potentially serves to divide changing communities. Often this comes at a larger social cost to the original residents of the gentrified area whose displacement is met with little concern from

960-532: A typical 1970s term with more visibility in public discourse than actual migration. A 2017 study found that gentrification leads to job gains overall, with job losses in proximate locations but job gains further away. A 2014 study found that gentrification led to job gains in the gentrifying neighborhood. A 2016 study found that residents who stay in gentrifying neighborhoods go on to obtain higher credit scores whereas residents who leave gentrifying neighborhoods obtain lower credit scores. "School gentrification"

1020-417: Is a combined community effort to win historic district designation for the neighborhood, a phenomenon that is often linked to gentrification activity. Gentry can exert a peer influence on neighbors to take action against crime, which can lead to even more price increases in changing neighborhoods when crime rates drop and optimism for the area's future climbs. Some argue that gentrification is associated with

1080-400: Is also used to assist the management of spaces that already have high vitality. However, the success of high-vitality spaces can sometimes lead to gentrification and overtourism that may reduce their vitality and initial popularity. The concept of urban vitality is based on the works of Jane Jacobs , especially her most influential work, The Death and Life of Great American Cities . In

1140-411: Is built. When the housing at the center has reached the end of its useful life and becomes cheap, the well-to-do gentrify the neighborhood. The push outward from the city center continues as the housing in each ring reaches the end of its economic life. They observe that gentrification has three interpretations: (a) "great, the value of my house is going up, (b) coffee is more expensive, now that we have

1200-641: Is characterized by: (i) increased numbers of middle-class families; (ii) material and physical upgrades (e.g. new programs, educational resources, and infrastructural improvements); (iii) forms of exclusion and/or the marginalization of low-income students and families (e.g. in both enrollment and social relations); and (iv) changes in school culture and climate (e.g. traditions, expectations, and social dynamics). A 2024 study found that adding high-density mixed-income developments to low-income neighborhoods in London, United Kingdom, led to improved educational outcomes for

1260-814: Is commonly referenced as a negative aspect of gentrification by its opponents. A 2022 study found evidence that gentrification leads to greater residential mobility. In the United States, a 2023 study by Princeton University sociologists found that "eviction rates decreased more in gentrifying neighborhoods than in comparable low-income neighborhoods." A 2016 study found "that vulnerable residents, those with low credit scores and without mortgages, are generally no more likely to move from gentrifying neighborhoods compared with their counterparts in nongentrifying neighborhoods." A 2017 study by sociology professor Matthew Desmond , who runs Princeton University's Eviction Lab, "found no evidence that renters residing in gentrifying or in racially- and economically-integrated neighborhoods had

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1320-410: Is little evidence for more long-term impacts and that gentrification in some cases widens crime-related disparities. Displacement is often seen as a key effect of gentrification, although evidence is mixed as to whether gentrification leads to displacement (or even reduces displacement) and under which circumstances. In 2005, USA Today claimed that gentrification is a "boost for everyone" based on

1380-475: Is the quality of spaces in cities that attract diverse groups of people for a range of activities at different times of the day. Such spaces are often be perceived as being alive, lively or vibrant, in contrast with low-vitality areas, which may repel people and be perceived as unsafe. The urban vitality index is a measure of this quality and has become a fundamental tool in urban planning , especially in interventions for spaces with low vitality. The index

1440-419: Is thought to be a method to promote health equity. Whether gentrification has occurred in a census tract in an urban area in the United States during a particular 10-year period between censuses can be determined by a method used in a study by Governing : If the census tract in a central city had 500 or more residents and at the time of the baseline census had median household income and median home value in

1500-498: The 1960s, Jacobs criticized the modern and rationalist architecture of Robert Moses and Le Corbusier , whose work centered private cars . She argued that these forms of urban planning overlooked and oversimplified the complexity of human life in diverse communities. She opposed large-scale urban renewal programs that affected neighborhoods and that built freeways through inner cities. She instead advocated compact and mixed-use development with walkable streets and “ eyes on

1560-520: The 3rd century, AD. The word gentrification derives from gentry —which comes from the Old French word genterise , "of gentle birth" (14th century) and "people of gentle birth" (16th century). In England, landed gentry denoted the social class, consisting of gentlemen (and gentlewomen, as they were at that time known). British sociologist Ruth Glass was first to use "gentrification" in its current sense. She used it in 1964 to describe

1620-573: The Mall was renovated. A plaque at the intersection of W. Michigan and Burdick reads: "The Kalamazoo Mall | First Permanent Pedestrian Mall in North America | Dedicated August 9, 1959 | Renovated 1970-1971". In 1975, a fourth block of Burdick became car-free: between Water and Eleanor Streets. The bloom eventually faded. Critics said the mall had too little parking nearby, exposed shoppers to bad weather, attracted crime, and held too few shops. In

1680-580: The W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research and Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found that the construction of new large apartment buildings in low-income neighborhoods lead to an influx of high-income households but also decrease rents in nearby units by increasing housing supply. Many of the social effects of gentrification have been based on extensive theories about how socioeconomic status of an individual's neighborhood will shape one's behavior and future. These studies have prompted "social mix policies" to be widely adopted by governments to promote

1740-405: The analysis of the elements that determine it. Among them are: Gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more affluent residents (the " gentry ") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has been used to describe a wide array of phenomena, sometimes in

1800-447: The artists' case. Their cultural emancipation from the bourgeois makes the central city an appealing alternative that distances them from the conformity and mundaneness attributed to suburban life. They are quintessential city people, and the city is often a functional choice as well, for city life has advantages that include connections to customers and a closer proximity to a downtown art scene, all of which are more likely to be limited in

1860-407: The bottom 40th percentile and at the time of the next 10-year census the tract's educational attainment (percentage of residents over age 25 with a bachelor's degree) was in the top 33rd percentile; the median home value, adjusted for inflation, had increased; and the percentage of increase in home values in the tract was in the top 33rd percentile when compared to the increase in other census tracts in

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1920-436: The central business district has increased demand for living in urban areas according to Ley (1980) . Critical geographers have argued that capital flows and developers have been instrumental in causing gentrification. The de-industrialization of cities in developed nations may have caused displacement by reducing the number of blue-collar jobs available to the urban working class and middle-class. Some have argued that

1980-417: The changed perception of the central city that is encouraged by gentrification can be healthy for resource-deprived communities who have previously been largely ignored. Gentrifiers provide the political effectiveness needed to draw more government funding towards physical and social area improvements, while improving the overall quality of life by providing a larger tax base. Communities have strong ties to

2040-419: The changing norms that accompany gentrification translate to a changing social hierarchy. The process of gentrification mixes people of different socioeconomic strata, thereby congregating a variety of expectations and social norms. The change gentrification brings in class distinction also has been shown to contribute to residential polarization by income, education, household composition, and race. It conveys

2100-571: The children who were already living in the neighborhood. The plausible mechanism for this effect is that incumbent students were exposed to more high-ability students. In Chicago, among neighborhood public schools located in areas that did undergo gentrification, one study found that schools experience no aggregate academic benefit from the socioeconomic changes occurring around them, despite improvements in other public services such street repair, sanitation, policing, and firefighting. The lack of gentrification-related benefits to schools may be related to

2160-435: The counterculture movement in the 1960s created disdain for the "standardization of look-alike suburbs", prompting people to live in urban areas. Others argue that a desire to live near cultural attractions prompts gentrification. According to a 2020 systematic review of existing research, gentrification in the United States has led to a short-term reduction in crime in gentrifying neighborhoods. However, it noted that there

2220-501: The decline of distinctive local businesses and the rise of chains and franchises. Rehabilitation movements have been largely successful at restoring the plentiful supply of old and deteriorated housing that is readily available in inner cities. This rehabilitation can be seen as a superior alternative to expansion, for the location of the central city offers an intact infrastructure that should be taken advantage of: streets, public transportation, and other urban facilities. Furthermore,

2280-417: The demand has grown. Additionally, Darren P. Smith finds through his research that college-educated workers moving into the urban areas causes them to settle there and raise children, which eventually contributes to the cost of education in regards to the migration between urban and suburban places. Women increasingly obtaining higher education as well as higher paying jobs has increased their participation in

2340-460: The downtown area and peripheral parking lots where people would leave their cars and walk through the pedestrian zone. The design resembled the Ringstrasse of his native Vienna . But Kalamazoo ultimately built only the pedestrian zone. Construction was begun in 1958 and completed in 1959. The $ 60,000 cost was split between the city government and the business owners along the mall. The mall

2400-490: The efficiency of commodities parents need by minimizing time constraints among multiple jobs, childcare, and markets. Phillip Clay's two-stage model of gentrification places artists as prototypical stage one or "marginal" gentrifiers. The National Endowment for the Arts did a study that linked the proportion of employed artists to the rate of inner city gentrification across a number of U.S. cities. Artists will typically accept

2460-506: The finding that white gentrifiers often do not enroll their children in local neighborhood public schools. Programs and policies designed to attract gentrifying families to historically disinvested schools may have unintended negative consequences, including an unbalanced landscape of influence wherein the voices and priorities of more affluent parents are privileged over those of lower-income families. In addition, rising enrollment of higher-income families in neighborhood schools can result in

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2520-464: The gentrification process, the "marginal gentrifiers" as referred to by Tim Butler, is that they become marginalized by the expansion of the process. Research shows how one reason wealthy, upper-class individuals and families hold some responsibility in the causation of gentrification is due to their social mobility. Wealthier families were more likely to have more financial freedom to move into urban areas, oftentimes choosing to do so for their work. At

2580-488: The gentry or the government. Clashes that result in increased police surveillance, for example, would more adversely affect young minorities who are also more likely to be the original residents of the area. There is also evidence to support that gentrification can strengthen and stabilize when there is a consensus about a community's objectives. Gentrifiers with an organized presence in deteriorated neighborhoods can demand and receive better resources. A characteristic example

2640-467: The history and culture of their neighborhood, and causing its dispersal can have detrimental costs. The economic changes that occur as a community goes through gentrification are often favorable for local governments. Affluent gentrifiers expand the local tax base as well as support local shops and businesses, a large part of why the process is frequently alluded to in urban policies. The decrease in vacancy rates and increase in property value that accompany

2700-550: The impact of some recent studies and that displacement that arises is minimal, or caused by other factors. Some scholars have disputed these assertions, arguing that such studies distort facts and used limited datasets. In 2002, economist Jacob Vigdor wrote, "Overall, existing literature has failed to convincingly demonstrate that rates of involuntary displacement are higher in gentrifying neighborhoods." A 2018 study found evidence that gentrification displaces renters, but not homeowners. The displacement of low-income rental residents

2760-523: The influx of middle-class people displacing lower-class worker residents in urban neighborhoods; her example was London , and its working-class districts such as Islington : One by one, many of the working class neighbourhoods of London have been invaded by the middle-classes—upper and lower. Shabby, modest mews and cottages—two rooms up and two down—have been taken over, when their leases have expired, and have become elegant, expensive residences ... Once this process of 'gentrification' starts in

2820-492: The inner-city lifestyle is important for women with children where the father does not care equally for the child, because of the proximity to professional childcare. This attracts single parents, specifically single mothers, to the inner-city as opposed to suburban areas where resources are more geographically spread out. This is often deemed as "marginal gentrification", for the city can offer an easier solution to combining paid and unpaid labor. Inner city concentration increases

2880-411: The investment risk in the housing market. Often they are single people or young couples without children who lack demand for good schools. Gentrifiers are likely searching for inexpensive housing close to the workplace and often already reside in the inner city, sometimes for educational reasons, and do not want to make the move to suburbia. For this demographic, gentrification is not so much the result of

2940-432: The labor force, translating to an expansion of women who have greater opportunities to invest. Smith suggests this group "represents a reservoir of potential gentrifiers." The increasing number of highly educated women play into this theory, given that residence in the inner city can give women access to the well-paying jobs and networking, something that is becoming increasingly common. There are also theories that suggest

3000-529: The mid-1990s, Project Downtown offered a 10-point plan to revitalize Kalamazoo's downtown area, including, most contentiously, a proposal to reopen to auto traffic the two blocks of the Mall south of W. Michigan. Voters narrowly approved the plan in May 1997. Construction began in April 1998. The street was officially reopened on October 9, 1998; ceremonies included fireworks, a visit from Michigan Governor John Engler ,

3060-814: The political and cultural displacement of long-term residents in school decision-making processes and the loss of Title I funding. Notably, the expansion of school choice (e.g., charter schools, magnet schools, open enrollment policies) have been found to significantly increase the likelihood that college-educated white households gentrify low-income communities of color. A culmination of recent research suggests that gentrification has both detrimental and beneficial effects on health. A 2020 review found that studies tended to show adverse health impacts for Black residents and elderly residents in areas undergoing gentrification. A 2019 study in New York, found that gentrification has no impact on rates of asthma or obesity among low-income children. Growing up in gentrifying neighborhoods

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3120-421: The process and its positive effects, such as lessening the strain on public resources that are associated with de-concentrating poverty. However, more specific research has shown that gentrification does not necessarily correlate with "social mixing", and that the effects of the new composition of a gentrified neighborhood can both weaken as well as strengthen community cohesion. Housing confers social status, and

3180-619: The process can work to stabilize a previously struggling community, restoring interest in inner-city life as a residential option alongside the suburbs. These changes can create positive feedback as well, encouraging other forms of development of the area that promote general economic growth. Home ownership is a significant variable when it comes to economic impacts of gentrification. People who own their homes are much more able to gain financial benefits of gentrification than those who rent their houses and can be displaced without much compensation. Economic pressure and market price changes relate to

3240-413: The risks of rehabilitating deteriorated property, as well as having the time, skill, and ability to carry out these extensive renovations. David Ley states that the artist's critique of everyday life and search for meaning and renewal are what make them early recruits for gentrification. The identity that residence in the inner city provides is important for the gentrifier, and this is particularly so in

3300-515: The same time, in these urban areas the lower-income population is decreasing due to an increase in the elderly population as well as demographic change. Jackelyn Hwang and Jeffrey Lin have supported in their research that another reason for the influx of upper-class individuals to urban areas is due to the "increase in demand for college-educated workers". It is because of this demand that wealthier individuals with college degrees needed to move into urban cities for work, increasing prices in housing as

3360-403: The speed of gentrification. English-speaking countries have a higher number of property owners and a higher mobility. German speaking countries provide a higher share of rented property and have a much stronger role of municipalities, cooperatives, guilds and unions offering low-price-housing. The effect is a lower speed of gentrification and a broader social mix. Gerhard Hard sees gentrification as

3420-526: The street ” to deter crime. The concept of urban vitality is important in Mediterranean urbanism and its history, in which public space , walkability and squares are valued as centers of social interaction and cohesion , in contrast to the Anglo-Saxon urbanism of large, car-centric infrastructures with greater distances between conveniences. Urban vitality can be quantified thanks to

3480-413: The urban area then it was considered to have been gentrified. The method measures the rate of gentrification, not the degree of gentrification; thus, San Francisco , which has a history of gentrification dating to the 1970s, show a decreasing rate between 1990 and 2010. Scholars have also identified census indicators that can be used to reveal that gentrification is taking place in a given area, including

3540-432: Was associated with moderate increases in being diagnosed with anxiety or depression between ages 9–11 relative to similar children raised in non-gentrifying areas. The effects of gentrification on mental health were most prominent for children living in market-rate (rather than subsidized) housing, which lead the authors of the study to suggest financial stress as a possible mechanism. Preventing or mitigating gentrification

3600-675: Was opened on August 19, 1959, with a ceremony that included the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and drew some 50,000 people. In 1960, a third block was added to the Mall: Burdick from South Street to Lovell Street. The Mall's initial success led several other cities to hire Gruen's firm for similar plans. The designer, however, was dissatisfied with what he regarded as a minimalist and cheap approach to revitalizing public space, and increasingly turned to enclosed malls and more elaborate transit and road designs. In 1970 and 1971,

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