Gentrification, or urban gentrification, encompasses a number of processes of change in demographics, land uses and building conditions in an area, accompanied by rapid increase in a neighborhood's property prices and influx of investment and physical remodelling and renovation. In many cases, the lower-income residents who originally lived in the neighborhood have to move out of the neighborhood because they can no longer afford to live there.[1][2] Proponents of gentrification focus on ../MORE

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Gentrification, or urban gentrification, encompasses a number of processes of change in demographics, land uses and building conditions in an area, accompanied by rapid increase in a neighborhood's property prices and influx of investment and physical remodelling and renovation. In many cases, the lower-income residents who originally lived in the neighborhood have to move out of the neighborhood because they can no longer afford to live there.[1][2] Proponents of gentrification focus on the benefits of urban renewal, such as investment in physically deteriorating locales, improved access to lending capital for low-income mortgage seekers as their property values increase, increased rates of lending to minority and first-time home purchasers to invest in the appreciating area and improved physical conditions for those renters able to afford the rising rents. [3] Gentrification has been linked to reductions in local property crime rates, increased property prices, increased revenue to local governments from property taxes, increased tolerance of sexual minorities,[4] and certain kinds of community activism.[citation needed] Critics of gentrification often cite the human cost to the neighborhood's lower-income residents, as well as the reduction in diversity of productive landuses such as light industry and cultural activities such as live music venues due to reverse sensitivity issues. The increases in rent often result in the dispersal of communities whose members find that housing in the area is no longer affordable.[citation needed] Additionally, the increase in property taxes (due to increased property values) may sometimes force or give incentive for homeowners to sell their homes and move to less expensive neighborhoods. While those who view gentrification positively cite local reductions in a neighborhood's property crime rate, its critics argue that overall crime rates have not actually been reduced, but merely shifted to different lower-income neighborhoods.[5] Because gentrification and neighborhood revitalization often go hand in hand, gentrification can be "a double-edged sword" with both positive and negative impacts.[6]