Gentrification is an urban phenomena in which poorer or lower-income areas in a city or suburban area are changed by welathier moving in and attracting new business, typically displacing or altering the lives of previous residents. Ben Passmore actively lists BTTM FDRS as a representation of his new genre of "gentrification horror," with the idea of gentrification being portrayed through various elements of horror to demonstrate both how monstrous it can be and how present it is in our current society. Modern gentrification ideals show up especially in the relationship between Cynthia and Darla. The pair share a conversation on page 80 about Cynthia using Darla's apartment and neighbors in the Bottomyards to gain "cool" points after making fun of it the day prior, to which Darla infuriatingly responds "The big deal is that you're trying to use me and my scary black neighborhood to look cool!" Cynthia is constantly shown as looking down upon the Bottomyards and the poverty present, however consistently jumps at the opportunity to falsely claim she lives there and even ask to move in with Darla after finding out about the presence of a hip new celebrity and the knowledge that fashion managers see the place as rugged, cheap, and cool-an all too common pattern present in modern gentrification seeing wealthy urbanites migrating to areas of lower cost due to their "charm" and displacing small business and causing prices to consequently scale up. A later reveal saw Gene actively raising the rent yet keeping it at a price to attract new tenants, displacing the previous, labelling the building "an investment property." With the addition of the building being a metaphysical and metaphorical monster that comes further alive with each new visitor, the image of social commentary present doesn't try to be subtle-it jump-scares you in technicolor.

Throughout the novel, there are several active instances of white people marginalizing, speaking down to, or even demonstrating outright ignorance towards Darla and black culture. In their argument in the car on page 81, Cynthia says that "We've been BFF since we were babies, I've been through everything you've been through! I mean, yeah I know I wasn't the one they called the n-word in elementary school, but I was usually right next to you when it happened and it was embarrassing for me, too." On top of this, after returning to the Bottomyards in an attempt to make amends, Cynthia's 'apology' is accompanied with "But that doesn't make me a racist, and I'm like super hurt that you think that. I'd feel a lot better if you apologized too, actually. For calling me a racist." Cynthia is constantly trying to set herself out as someone hip and in the in-scene, going so far as to wear a hat with the word 'rap' on it, yet falls into the same ignorant marginalization that many commit on the daily without realizing it. As people begin further disappearing and the idea of a monster iyardsn the Bottom emerges to the public, Cynthia is the one reported as living in the "danger of the Bottomyards" and suffering as a heroic or martyr figure for local news outlet. In addition, on page 23 as the landlord Gene greets Darla in the staircase after her initial arrival to the factory, greets Darla and telling her that "I just think you're gonna love it here. I love artistic people," in reference to Darla being a young African-American art student recently graduated. Though characters like Cynthia and Gene speak as if they attempt to understand or even place themselves on equal levels as Darla and Julio, they create a conversation space in which both of their respective culture and identities are completely ignored in favor of categorizing language or "the white struggle."

One of the biggest plot movers in BTTM FDRS is the fact that no police contact or attempt to notify the authorities of everything going on in the building is successful. On page 88, after being confronted by a crazed handyman outside of her building barring her from entry, Darla attempts to call the police for assistance. However, in response they not only tell her that she's being 'ridiculous', but also that "You're calling from the Bottomyards. We can't send a car down there unless there's an actual emergency." This instance happens multiple times throughout the novel, reaching a climax when Darla attempts to call the police to report Cynthia missing. Arguably the most important call she's made to the police, yet is told she is in hysterics and has her phone number blocked by 911. The specific labelling of a poorer neighborhood or area in a city and denying services except for the case of "real threats" or "real emergencies" is a real idea areas with lower income higher crime rates face today in the wake of modern police brutality and negligence, and often leads to easily preventable disaster both in BTTM FDRS and the real Bottomyards of our cities.