Booted From The Bottom
By Habiba Sylla
The African American residents of University City are under threat as a result of the diversity of ads about gentrification. With the growing population of White and Asian residents (mostly students), long time Black residents and home-owners are becoming the victims of hostility and aggression. The presence of students and new non-Black homeowners is also raising the costs of housing and rent, and the expansion of colleges and the development needed to maintain those colleges is permanently changing the culture of the neighborhood, sometimes called "the bottom."
Luxury Homes
Out of place units like these that are put on small blocks may have some where between 3-20 units. It doesn't fit in with the look of the block, and older home owners feel overwhelmed trying to find parking with so many new residents. Owners who rent out see the change going on and naturally don't want to be left out, so they feel like they need to modernize their property and raise rents to keep up.
Affordable Units are decreasing because owners can make more money off of the new residents (middle class people instead of working people).
Areas that were family friendly are now filled with students and short term renters. Home owners are turning or building homes with three units, and each unit may be on average $1,100 for two bedrooms. This creates environments where people don't want to raise children, and the type of development in the community changes because of that. Developers want to appease young renters and college students so there becomes a push to create opportunities for social life instead of that homely vibe like Powelton Village used to have.
As the number of Black residents decrease, it leaves many feeling lonely and isolated and deprived of a sense of community like they once had. They see all these non-Black/White residents but not many of the people who used to live in the neighborhood. It can be hard to connect with people who displaced your neighbors and uprooted your neighborhood. Also, due to the wealth gap, African American residents are surrounded by generally wealthier people who live different lives even though they are right next door. So that leaves them feeling like outsiders in their own neighborhood. The sad thing is that non home owners eventually will be outsiders because they won't be able to afford to live there. To combat this epidemic there needs to be mandatory affordable housing and rent in all neighborhoods so lower income residents can afford to live anywhere they want.