NorCalUrban

You may have heard me talk about this issue before, but here is an excellent article on gentrification in urban communities - and the power of investment with a 'heart' for the poor. Bob has been on the forefront of this issue coming from a faith based community development perspective. He helped me formulate some of my thoughts regarding our approach to breaking poverty in our community. In the article Bob states: "But must gentrification always spell displacement for the poor? To some degree, yes. Yet displacement is not entirely bad. There are drug dealers and other rogues that need to be dislodged from a community if it is going to become a healthy place to raise children. Over-crowded tenements and flop houses should be thinned out or cleaned up and this inevitably means displacement of some of the vulnerable along with their predators. Bringing responsible property management back into a neglected community does spell disruption for those who have chosen or been for...