[jadell]

It's the gentrification cycle, and it's been going on for decades (perhaps centuries.) It's just now getting to smaller mid-sized cities in the US.

- Some part of $City is a dirty, smelly, claustrophobic place, no one wants to live there so rents are low.

-> Low wage service workers, underserved/oppressed communities, and other "undesirables" move there because they have no where else to go, and form their own community.

-> Artists, actors, students, and others with no money move there because of low rents, and the area become "quirky" and "authentic" (ignoring, of course, the community culture that already lives there.)

-> Patrons of artists and actors like to live among artists and actors so also move to the area (or adjacent surroundings.)

-> Some of those patrons start up businesses to serve the low-rent community (the ubiquitous "coffee shop", bookstore, or gallery.)

-> The area becomes a center for art and creativity, and new amenities draw more people.

-> Middle income people start to move in, bringing demand for services and more amenities, but specifically the ones they are used to from elsewhere, not the unique "quirky" ones that made the area interesting to begin with. (Right around here is the part of the cycle where the city council and police start receiving more complaints than in the past, and usually complaints directed at the community which was there first.)

-> Developers start to take notice, buying land and increasing property values, building cheaply constructed luxury "slums" but charging sky high prices due to desirable location and access to amenities.

-> As property values go up, so does rent, forcing out first the low wage service workers, underserved/oppressed communities, and other "undesirables", and then the artists/actors/students/etc.

-> The area starts to lose what made it "quirky" and "authentic" to begin with, as the coffee shops are replaced with Starbucks, ethnic restaurants are replaced with chain restaurants, and little theaters and galleries can't afford rent anymore. It become sterile and Disney-fied.

And while all this is happening, newcomer residents are demanding that the city & police do something about all the growing homeless and addiction problems brought on by the people who can no longer afford to live there being forced out of their homes.

[jeegsy]

This about covers it. There really isnt any more to add