Tuesday, February 7, 2012

"There Goes The Neighborhood"

10 Neighborhoods That Were Redefined by Gentrification

You know the old saying, "There goes the neighborhood"? In today's urban American real estate climate, it's more likely to mean that yuppies are moving into a lower-income neighborhood which ultimately will succumb to higher real estate prices, than that a neighborhood is becoming blighted by crime. 

 1. Andersonville, Chicago

  Andersonville has expanded into multiple portions of Uptown (to the south) and Edgewater (to the north). Neither has disappeared; they have just been made smaller by the changing boundaries.


"Uptown is a very racially diverse neighborhood in Chicago with a relatively high poverty rate with pockets of gentrification and pockets of concentrated poverty. The Argyle portion of Uptown has a [relatively large] population of Asian immigrants; a lot of Vietnamese and Chinese residents; a fair number of African Americans [and Latinos]; a long tradition of 'Lefty' activism in the neighborhood as well; and a lot of SRO's housing people with various disabilities," said Dr. Brown-Saracino. While some residents of Uptown have been pushed out by rising real estate prices, Dr. Brown-Saracino said that some of the housing there has remained affordable due to community activism.