3 ms·

The challenge exists for families on low incomes--cooks, bus drivers, store clerks, janitors, teachers, etc. A lot of these people were born there, they have f

The challenge exists for families on low incomes--cooks, bus drivers, store clerks, janitors, teachers, etc. A lot of these people were born there, they have family there, have a community there, and they don't have the resources to move or get another job.

at-fates-hands 11y ago
What I've seen normally happens is that as a community is displaced, they tend to move to the same areas where other people from their community are living. For instance in Minneapolis where I live, once they put in a lot of low income housing in, a majority of the whites move out of the city, and into the first ring suburbs. Then several immigrant populations moved into Minneapolis and pushed a lot of the african-american population into that first ring of suburbs where the whites had moved. Sure enough, the whites pushed out into the next ring of suburbs. This has happened several times and now the ironic thing is they're taking out (or demolishing) all the low income housing and putting in swanky town homes and condos and guess what? All those families (and their kids) that moved out in the 60's and 70's are the prime movers for the new era of gentrification. My point here is even though communities get shuffled and pushed out due to gentrification, they tend to stick together regardless and create new communities where they move to and find like minded people who have the same common cultural traits as themselves.
- thaw13579 11y ago
  Isn't what you're describing racial segregation and the creation of ghettos? Historically, a major component of this was explicitly racist housing law, e.g. FHA 1934-1968. But regardless of the implementation, the practical outcome seems to be worse hospitals, education, and political power for the poorer group of "like minded people".
mc32 11y ago
The challenge exists but there are no easy answers to it, beside "stagnation". Giving state control of resources is not an answer (as they are likely to wildly misallocate). China has a lot of poor and they have a lot of rich and the state has a lot of control over building housing and controlling inter city migration, yet they continue to have housing issues. As others have said, there is a cycle which develops --be it homogenous pops of heterogeneous populations, in vibrant economies. In stagnant economies, you pretty much get to stay where you were born as there is no upward movement or sideways movement clearing housing stock for others and giving them a chance to move in. So I both agree that no one has a "right" to live in a particular neighborhood or city, implying that housing should be available at a price affordable to anyone who works, I also believe builders should be encouraged to build for different income levels.

at-fates-hands 11y ago

What I've seen normally happens is that as a community is displaced, they tend to move to the same areas where other people from their community are living. For instance in Minneapolis where I live, once they put in a lot of low income housing in, a majority of the whites move out of the city, and into the first ring suburbs. Then several immigrant populations moved into Minneapolis and pushed a lot of the african-american population into that first ring of suburbs where the whites had moved. Sure enough, the whites pushed out into the next ring of suburbs. This has happened several times and now the ironic thing is they're taking out (or demolishing) all the low income housing and putting in swanky town homes and condos and guess what? All those families (and their kids) that moved out in the 60's and 70's are the prime movers for the new era of gentrification. My point here is even though communities get shuffled and pushed out due to gentrification, they tend to stick together regardless and create new communities where they move to and find like minded people who have the same common cultural traits as themselves.

thaw13579 11y ago
Isn't what you're describing racial segregation and the creation of ghettos? Historically, a major component of this was explicitly racist housing law, e.g. FHA 1934-1968. But regardless of the implementation, the practical outcome seems to be worse hospitals, education, and political power for the poorer group of "like minded people".

mc32 11y ago

The challenge exists but there are no easy answers to it, beside "stagnation". Giving state control of resources is not an answer (as they are likely to wildly misallocate). China has a lot of poor and they have a lot of rich and the state has a lot of control over building housing and controlling inter city migration, yet they continue to have housing issues. As others have said, there is a cycle which develops --be it homogenous pops of heterogeneous populations, in vibrant economies. In stagnant economies, you pretty much get to stay where you were born as there is no upward movement or sideways movement clearing housing stock for others and giving them a chance to move in. So I both agree that no one has a "right" to live in a particular neighborhood or city, implying that housing should be available at a price affordable to anyone who works, I also believe builders should be encouraged to build for different income levels.