Upgrading Neighborhoods and Gentrification - Essay Example

Upgrading Neighborhoods and Gentrification Introduction This paper mainly examines the issues especially pertaining to upgrading the neighborhoods and their preservation. In this article those issues are addressed which cause hurdles in the upgrading and preservation of neighborhoods along with some of the strategies to combat with such issues. Gentrification especially has been discussed in this paper as part of one of the suggestions to bring physical improvements in the communities which ultimately lead towards the upgrading and preservation of the neighborhoods. Causes of Interruptions in Neighborhood Upgrading and Preservations Conventional theories presented by the economists have remained influential regarding the development of housing policies yet these there is no adequacy in applying those theories as a basis for neighborhood preservation because these theories are unable to identify the fundamental reasons working behind these declines. Aging of housing stocks is also not a realistic approach as a means of neighborhood declines. Moreover, these traditional theories have overemphasized on cosmetic housing improvement as a force to upgrade neighborhood efforts. Aging of housing stock is undoubtedly one of the factors that cause decline in the neighborhood. However, in case of those declines in neighborhoods where decline took place rather in a more rapid manner, the other causes for that type of declines are the racial and the social shifts of the population. In order to stabilize the neighborhoods, it is of vital importance that aging factor along with the social and cultural factors must be taken into account. On the contrary, the neighborhoods crowded by white ethnic groups are more stable and there are fewer evidences to support that aging has affected those neighborhoods more because of social factors rather than economic factors. These social factors highlight the patterns of interdependence with each other which cause the upkeeping of those neighborhoods. There are some questions which are raised by the recent researches regarding the future of neighborhoods upgrading, such that once the gentrification process starts up, the long-term efforts of the residents to upgrade the neighborhoods become mundane due to inevitability of entire turnover to a population consisting of the middle-class. There are more variations in upgrading the neighborhood in different communities. Communities which are shaped by the white ethnic group take active part in the upgrading efforts. However, other communities in which low-income population exists or people belonging to other races and social backgrounds, find it harder to stimulate the upgrading efforts. In past, various efforts have been made to bring stability in the social behavior of those classes, yet improvement signs in this regard have not been witnessed. Furthermore, the reports issued by HUD seem to be biased regarding the upgrading efforts that have been made. It looks as if the officials are unaware or have completely ignored the fact that whatever upgrading efforts are being made, they are in those communities which are influenced by the white ethnic group. Still those communities which experience the groups having differences in their social and racial backgrounds are still far away from the upgrading efforts. Those authors who have supported the fact that in past ten years, the upgrading efforts of the neighborhoods have been tremendously increased, have overlooked the social and racial factors of those communities where no neighborhood upgrading has been experienced as yet. Some possible measures had been proposed by those authors including better public relations, community organizations and enforcement of conduct, but they all have never added to the real cause. Blacks and later on, the low-income groups demand expansion from ghetto areas and as long as their demand is not addressed by the relevant housing authorities, chances to bring in the upgrading efforts in those communities are quite minute. This area of social and racial issues is also overlooked by the recent federal neighborhood preservation demonstration. The study of South Shore Bank totally ignored the element of increasing street crimes as one of the primary hurdles in upgrading a neighborhood and its preservation. As long as these particular issues in respect of social and racial matters keep rising, the efforts for the preservation and upgrading of neighborhoods will keep derailing. The empirical evidences shown by some of the analytical studies would be more discouraging to the housing policy makers such that none of the study has presented any evidence in the upgrading and preservation of the neighborhoods which still holds the belief that there is a decline that can be experienced in the neighborhood. Strategies to Combat with the Hurdles The most recent researches have suggested three broad areas of improvement in order to upgrade the neighborhoods and its preservation. These are: Stabilization through Gentrification One way to bring stability in the communities is to gentrify the lowered-income groups into those areas where there are better chances of housing with attractive values and the neighborhoods. The only question arises whether the white gentrifiers would be acceptable to those existing black people in their community or not. The process of gentrification and upgrading in relation to neighborhood is often considered as the one having two functions. At times, it seems as if the process of gentrification causes the replacement of current residents. The other opinion in this respect is of the view that these processes are interchangeable and cause each other, such that the migrants of the middle-income families lead the current residents to invest more in their own properties because this helps in making their own properties more valuable due to gaining interest from other migrants. In this way, several plans are proposed to assist both middle-income families and the current residents such that those families which are residing on rent basis, they should be provided the ownership of those properties. Similarly, the current residents should be provided enough opportunities to attract more migrants in order to enhance their property values. This study specifically emphasizes on three major issues which are related to subsidized housing rehabilitation and the neighborhood. These issues are, firstly, there should not be any overestimation regarding the spillover effects in relation to programs relating to housing rehabilitation. The second matter that is highly emphasized is that in order to provide benefits to the participants seeking subsidized housing rehabilitation, those benefits should be direct in nature rather than being indirect to be provided by the housing advocates. Third point states that the prospects in relation to the reversal of the declining pattern in the demographic changes in the areas should be considered highly realistic by the policymakers, bankers, residents and the community members. Stabilization of Social Class without Racial Class The study of Clay suggests that the likelihood of upgrading the neighborhoods may be increased especially in those areas which are currently experiencing racial changes such as the consolidation of blacks in a particular community of their own, fewer multifamily buildings and less number of renters living in those communities etc. Yet, there is a lot of homework needs to be done on this strategy regarding the mobility and the repair decisions of the middle-class Blacks. Racial and Social Class Stabilization The last measure that is suggested is that despite of the issue of ghetto, still there are opportunities to address both racial and social issues such that the middle income people might be encouraged to move to those areas which are moderately priced for those middle-income people. Government might play an important role in bringing in stabilization especially to those housing communities which attract the middle-income people. References Varady. Neighborhood Upgrading: A Realistic Assessment, pp. 1-50, 137-146. Varady. Book Review of There Goes the ‘Hood by Lance Freeman. Town Planning Review Vol. 78, No. 4, 2007. Print. Read More