You start with the situation where neighborhoods are economically segregated, high income versus low income. The low income neighborhoods tend to be invisible to city administrations and get fewer city services. The high income neighborhoods generate a larger portion of the city revenue and are, therefore, recipients of higher levels of attention from the cities. Gentrification brings higher levels of positive attention to a neighborhood. Unfortunately, the existing residents get priced out of their homes, often without any affordable alternatives. Somehow, there has to be a way for neighborhoods to grow while keeping a healthy mix of both affordable and gentrified housing. Of course, this is anti-capitalist in that developers are limited on the size of profits that can be extracted from gentrification projects. But in the long run, all citizens can reap gentrification benefits rather than just the wealthy.
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