Gentrification and the real problem facing cities

Almost everyone wants development — whether we’re poor or rich. Still, concerns arise if it occurs at the cost of displacing less wealthy residents.

Reporting has indicated Detroiters may be learning to live with bike lanes and urban gardens don’t lead to gentrification. However, arguments continue over what causes gentrification and whether it is helping or dividing Detroit.

“We should want to create a world where there is an abundance of possibility for a bunch of different people to exist.” — Jerusalem Demsas, The Atlantic

Listen: Why young college grads are not the cause of gentrification.

Guest

Jerusalem Demsas is staff writer at The Atlantic. In her recent piece, “The Real Villain in the Gentrification Story,” she says often people want to put the onus of the problem on the new residents or businesses entering a community, when the real problem is structural.

“We should want to create a world where there is an abundance of possibility for a bunch of different people to exist,” says Demsas.

“The problem is not that there are young, urban professionals who are higher educated and often more white who want to enter these communities. The problem is that our communities are set up to only allow a certain number of people to benefit from the gains of growth.”