Persuasive Essay Example: Gentrification is Bad

Gentrification is bad because it causes higher, more expensive living prices, pushes homelessness onto those that cannot afford basic living needs and adds to the stereotype that a modern aesthetic needs to be surrounded by a specific group of people and fit that “cookie-cutter” mold.

The website Investopedia states that gentrification is the transformation of a city neighborhood from low value to high value. This can be crucial to those who live in poverty and pay for basic living conditions such as having a roof over their heads and food to eat. The modernization of homes can cause the rent to rise and this leads to homeowners not being able to make it to paychecks or making it to bills and not having enough for food and other basic living needs. Gentrification pushes the normalization of homelessness and poverty. If people cannot afford their houses no longer they will have nowhere else to go and be pushed to live on the streets. It also pushes the normalization that to be in a modern neighborhood you have to have a certain look and aesthetic.

In America what is modern can change and vary from different things such as locations, eras, and aesthetics. This is an issue because when modernizing a neighborhood you are then pushing what society no longer believes as modern out of the area and into a new place. Once your new modern design is no longer popular in the media or society the cycle again then repeats, pushing people out of their homes.

When gentrifying a neighborhood it is not certain that the people that you were pushing out get home or place to stay. In the article in The Atlantic Spike Lee talks about gentrification in New York and he says, “why does it take an influx of white New Yorkers in the South Bronx, in Harlem, in Bed-Stuy, in Crown Heights for the facilities to get better?“ This can show that this city does not prioritize lower housing citizens until they are modernizing the area.

For the majority of the people living in poverty they have lived in that neighborhood for multiple generations and the process of gentrification erases that family’s history. You can see this in the article Examining the Negative Impacts of Gentrification Emily Chung states that “...elderly people are more intensely affected by social changes around them for example many older adults cited loss of friendship or community networks as a reason to move.“ This issue primarily affects those from poverty or lower come housing because their lifestyle is highly dependent on community networks, other low-income individuals to keep them motivated, and ability to reach other families.

Gentrification can be argued that it is a good thing because it is modernizing areas that no longer match the rest of the city's aesthetic. It can also bring safer and better opportunities in environments to live in. It can also be argued that it gives those living in lower-income housing the opportunity to better their lifestyles and ultimately eliminate poverty, the lower class, and the projects. This can be argued that gentrification is bad because it proves that you need to fit a certain aesthetic to be modern. Although, it is making a safer environment by tearing down people's homes. Modernization raises the prices of the homes which will push prior tenants out and this will push homelessness or require families to move further which can lead to more individual problems. Individual problems this could lead to could be loss of job inability to get to and from school and disconnection with family and friends. This is self is an issue because when growing up lower property life is primarily based on those surrounding you and your job so that you can live.

Gentrification is the best example to show that progress can be bad because it causes higher, more expensive living prices for families that already do not have a lot. It pushes homelessness onto those that cannot afford basic living needs and also cannot keep up with the new rent. It also pushes the stereotype that to be modern you need to fit a certain aesthetic and pushes people to feel the need to be part of the “cookie-cutter mold“ that continues to change with society. It is easy as a reader to put yourself in a position that you most agree with, but the most important part about gentrification is seeing it from the bigger picture. The best way to eliminate this is to care about lower-income housing people before we destroy their homes and instead help make the area modern, but affordable.