FORCING US OUT
Gentrification is the unit-by-unit acquisition of housing,
displacing low-income residents by high-income residents. (Brownfield).
Gentrification is a pattern where the existing social class is whipped out and
replaced by a higher economic class. Over the past ten years South Phoenix is
experiencing the effects of gentrification. Many families will be forced out of
the neighborhoods that they once lived.
In the course of ten to twenty years a population with a different social
class, culture, income level, and lifestyle will replace the original
population. Gentrification typically happens in older urban areas. South Phoenix is the ideal place for
gentrification. South Phoenix can be seen as the gateway. The area attracts great interest such as;
it is lined with the glamorous South Mountains, minutes from downtown Phoenix
and Tempe.
Recently I interviewed Pat Esperanza, a local resident on 10th
Ave & Dobbins. Pat stated that her as well as the neighborhood fears that
they will be forced or bought out. Pat, “We live in a low income neighborhood.
The problem is that if we are forced out where will we go? Where can we find low
secure housing? I love my neighborhood; it is a place of security. I think it is
great that developers our finally developing the unwanted land, the problem is
once that is all gone will they come after our houses? Residents like Mrs.
Esperanza have a great deal of concern. Eventually developers will make their
way into their neighborhood. Developers will invest into older neighborhoods
while driving up the prices of rent.
In South
Phoenix developers are investing a great deal of money knowing that fellow
investors will follow. Developers such as Kaufman and Broad find inexpensive
land in run down areas. By creating new facilities fellow investors will invest
into the area. The prime example is
the Legacy Golf Course. After the Legacy was created, 329 lots were approved for
building homes. (Land Survey)
Gentrification is a process that allows a new
economy to merge into our run down neighborhoods. Gentrification is a
revitalization that gives life into the neighborhoods, but at a cost. The
problem is that the rich get richer by the suffering of the low social class.