I really wish I knew how in all the discussions about how bad gentrification was, we got it so messed up that the act of making the neighborhood nicer and more livable was the problem, and not that we have a huge group of people who are so structurally de-invested in their communities that they rely on them being so crappy no one else wants to live there to be able to afford to be there… and that the structural de-investment (or bars from investment) was racially and ethnicity driven.
Just my two cents, but it seems like that’s the problem we should be trying to fix, so they can live in nice neighborhoods too, and be active in creating their neighborhoods into places that they want to live in instead of places where they can live…
(An idea? Cities should use eminent domain to buy neighborhoods of houses from slum lords. Then sell them to the residents at very cut rates with generous financing terms and find ways to help the residents refurbish and improve their homes, and getting grants to local non-profits to help teach the renters how to be home owners. Just a thought…)