The Negative Effects Of Harlem Gentrification

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Gentrification can be defined as the shift in the makeup of a community’s people. It is usually the community’s transition from a rundown, poorer area to a wealthier demographic. Gentrification begins with the increase of property values, which is caused by brokers and real estate agents. These brokers and real estate agents usually benefit the most from the transformation. Businesses that move in, like storefront coffee shops, cafes, and boutiques, raise the rent of apartments by increasing the value of the entire area. This leads to many people losing their homes. The new tenants that move in to fill the vacancies are most often young. . They prefer to hang out at these coffee shops below. These new landlords are more aware of demographic …show more content…
Leslie Goffe, a journalist for the New African Magazine in New York, writes about the negative effects of gentrification in Harlem. In her article, The Harlem Gentrification: From Black to White, she says, “Today in Harlem, fancy French restaurants, German beer gardens, upscale supermarkets which sell nothing longtime locals eat or can afford, are replacing black bookshops and barbershops and soul food joints” (Gordon-Goffe 1). Many of these small “Mom and Pop” shops are closing, and the stores and cafes moving in do not pertain to the ethnic need for local residents. The increasing number of white people in the area shows how many people of other ethnicities have been displaced by gentrification. According to a report by the City University of New York, only 672 whites lived in central Harlem in 1990. In 2000 that number nearly quadrupled to 2,000. In 2008 the population in central Harlem was estimated to be 13,800 (Goffe 2). These statistics prove that gentrification is happening in Harlem, despite what current residents prefer to believe. Currently, one of the effects occurring is a large median in the average income of residences. Since the process began, the gap between “rich” and “poor” in Harlem has widened considerably. . While the residents moving into the area are getting great deals on property, and the brokers and real estate agents are making good money, it is important to remember the negative impacts of gentrification on the inhabitants that are being
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