In the 1960s, gentrification was once involved middle-class buyers moving into neighborhoods that were struggling economically. These middle-class buyers used their own sweat equity to restore and improve their property in these economically struggling neighborhoods. Gentrification has come to represent something completely different than what it was described to be 30 years ago. Gentrification has become more systemic and widespread. Big banks, urban policy planners, and huge networks of organized real estate interests/developers are investing in the gentrification process.  The following are signs of gentrification beginning in your neighborhood:

• Blighted (Urban Decay) areas in the community are being renovated and restored. More construction is occurring in the community.

• Spaces that were once public become privatized. This means cities supply public spaces private companies for events and transportation, or “revitalizing” (at the expense of taxpayers) parks for the advantage of property owners wanting to build/develop luxury condominiums.

• Improvements in public transportation

• Apartments are being repackaged as condominiums.

• The media begins to describe your neighborhood as “up-and-coming” or “quaint”.