Examples of non-white gentrification?

[jd3189]

Thought this would be an interesting thread since it's something I thought about before and haven't seen much discussion on.

We are well aware that gentrification is generated by mostly millennials coming right out of college and many of them are White.

Now, millennials are a pretty diverse group as a whole racially/ethnically. I would think there are also Black, Latino, and Asian millennials also moving into cities these days. I belong to the first group and I have been thinking about moving into an urban area after medical school.

Is there any examples or data on gentrification focusing on minority groups in the US, Canada, Europe, or anywhere else in the world?

[Docere]

Isn't there a lot of talk about a growing Black professional class in Harlem? Not sure how much hard data there is for this though.

[Capsicum]

I hear about a lot of gentrification in London, UK being from wealthy Asians, Africans etc.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Docere

Isn't there a lot of talk about a growing Black professional class in Harlem? Not sure how much hard data there is for this though.

Gentrification in Harlem was always driven by minority professionals more than whites. There are a lot more whites in Harlem for sure, but I think the majority of transplants are people of color. It's really only in the last 5 years or so that you have pockets of Harlem where black residents are the minority. These are the areas directly adjacent to Morningside Heights and the Upper West Side.

[Pedestrian]

The city of Atlanta and the DC suburban county of Prince George's.

[Docere]

How is PG County an example of "gentrification"? It's the most working class county in the DC metro.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by Docere

How is PG County an example of "gentrification"? It's the most working class county in the DC metro.

It is the home of a solid black middle and upper middle class now whereas when I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s it was awfully white "trailer trashy" and even the nicer parts were beginning to deteriorate (partly because it had the worst schools outside of DC itself). I remember the first McMansion neighborhoods marketed to black professionals who weren't welcome in Montgomery or the VA suburbs (even after laws were passed making it illegal to refuse to sell to them).

[Docere]

The "pioneers" may have been more affluent than the old WWC they replaced but fast forward to today and PG County doesn't have a "gentrified" profile at all. 30% have college degrees, compared to over 50% in Montgomery and Fairfax. If anything it's going in the opposite direction as the District gentrifies.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by Docere

The "pioneers" may have been more affluent than the old WWC they replaced but fast forward to today and PG County doesn't have a "gentrified" profile at all. 30% have college degrees, compared to over 50% in Montgomery and Fairfax. If anything it's going in the opposite direction as the District gentrifies.

I don't think "profiles" are the point--the point is "neighborhoods". It's black majority so, yes, its incomes and other demographics overall are generally less than the whiter parts of one of the richest metros in the US. Compare it to a poorer northern city or suburban area with a black majority if you must compare.

[jd3189]

Yeah, I almost forgot that Atlanta is an important mecca for young black professionals. I would assume DC, Chicago, and Detroit to follow suit because they have large African American populations as well.

From what I'm guessing, cities that are famous for having certain minority groups could be experiencing gentrification by those same groups. Especially young Chinese Americans gaining wealth in SF, Latinos gaining prominence in Houston, LA, Miami, etc. and black professionals domestically and from Africa and the Caribbean fueling growth in South Side Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, DC, Philly, Brooklyn, and Harlem.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

I don't think "profiles" are the point--the point is "neighborhoods". It's black majority so, yes, its incomes and other demographics overall are generally less than the whiter parts of one of the richest metros in the US. Compare it to a poorer northern city or suburban area with a black majority if you must compare.

But more to the point...I don't the construction of McMansions = "gentrification."

[Capsicum]

Originally Posted by jd3189

Yeah, I almost forgot that Atlanta is an important mecca for young black professionals. I would assume DC, Chicago, and Detroit to follow suit because they have large African American populations as well.

From what I'm guessing, cities that are famous for having certain minority groups could be experiencing gentrification by those same groups. Especially young Chinese Americans gaining wealth in SF, Latinos gaining prominence in Houston, LA, Miami, etc. and black professionals domestically and from Africa and the Caribbean fueling growth in South Side Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, DC, Philly, Brooklyn, and Harlem.

Does it matter whether the gentrification is coming from native-born or immigrant minorities? Are typical examples of gentrification more likely to be from native-born non-whites, especially in the US (eg. native African American in Atlanta, native Asian American in SF, vs. say foreign-born Africans and Asians in London, UK or Vancouver, Canada?)

[Docere]

Wealthy Asian immigrants prefer suburban lifestyles and seem to have little interest in gentrifying neighborhoods.

In Vancouver, the more established gentrified Kitsilano and gentrifying Mount Pleasant and Commercial Drive are probably the whitest areas of the city these days.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Chinatown has overflowed into Chicago's Bridgeport, McKinnley Park and Bronzeville neighborhoods displacing whites, Mexicans and African Americans. Then again I'm not sure gentrification is really a "thing" so much as it is a dog whistle for "we don't want white people to move in". No one in Chicago says shit in public debates about the massive expansion of Chinatown and it involves the mass construction of single family home developments throughout these areas. It's only an "issue" when white people start moving into Latino areas. As such I don't really think it's gentrification if it's non whites doing the pushing.

[dc_denizen]

Dc east of the park and west of the anacostia river

[Crawford]

Depends how you define gentrificaiton. If you mean "white hipster dudes moving into nonwhite areas", obviously no. If you mean "new residents are notably wealthier than existing residents" then there are probably thousands of examples.

Every U.S. metro has sprawlburbs with a fast-growing Asian contingent, busily buying McMansions. These McMansions tend to be the most expensive homes in the community, so the Asians are "gentrifiers".

Even most areas turning from white to black are probably gentrifying by this definition. Usually neighborhoods have an increase in household incomes during the later stages of white flight, since it tends to be white grannies (low hh income) dying off and established black families (higher hh income) replacing them. The higher income whites usually leave first.

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by Docere

Isn't there a lot of talk about a growing Black professional class in Harlem? Not sure how much hard data there is for this though.

Gentrification is very real in Harlem. Nowadays you'll see Benz's and very nice vehicles in Harlem. Its slowly becoming an extension of the UES. Its a far cry from what it use to be. You'll also see more tourists there.

Overtime, I think the South Bronx will have this similar trajectory.

There is a ton planned for Harlem and its proxies, and in the Bronx. Prices have also been on the rise in Harlem and in certain Bronx neighborhoods.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Docere

The "pioneers" may have been more affluent than the old WWC they replaced but fast forward to today and PG County doesn't have a "gentrified" profile at all. 30% have college degrees, compared to over 50% in Montgomery and Fairfax. If anything it's going in the opposite direction as the District gentrifies.

But PG County used to be the "redneck white county" in the DC area. Now it's more the "middle class black county". So, depending on one's definition, one could say it gentrified.

[ilcapo]

What about bed stuy in Brooklyn?

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by ilcapo

What about bed stuy in Brooklyn?

Bed Stuy is gentrifying by any definition. It's getting much whiter and wealthier. In fact Bed Stuy has the fastest growing white population of any community in NYC, and among the fastest income growth.

Far Northern Bed Stuy is getting whiter and poorer, but that's because it's an extension of Hasidic South Williamsburg. It isn't really "Bed Stuy" anymore.