"What is Gentrification?"

In the words of sociologist Ruth Glass, London, 1964, who coined the term "Gentrification", she states that;

"One by one, many of the working-class quarters of London have been invaded by the middle-classes - upper and lower. Shabby, modest mews and cottages - two rooms up and two down - have been taken over, when their leases have expired, and have become elegant, expensive residences....Once this process of 'gentrification' starts in a district it goes on rapidly until all or most of the original working-class occupiers are displaced and the whole social character of the district is changed ."

It has been my observation that we have seen Chicago neighborhoods experience the same process that Ruth Glass reported in her studies of what occurred in London. In fact, there are several neighborhoods that I lived in from childhood into my early adult life that I can no longer afford to live in because these neighborhoods have become more expensive than much of today's suburbia. Specifically, it is the same process of gentrification that is causing major demographic shifts throughout Chicago and its suburban areas.

Not all of this is negative. While it must be recognized that many disadvantaged people are being displaced, I believe that it may provide those individuals an opportunity to move from the desolation of the failed social engineering experiments of the Robert Taylor homes and Cabrini Green, to cite just two examples, to scattered site housing throughout the suburban areas.

In Tom Slater's article entitled, What is Gentrification?, he eloquently states, "Wondering how it affects all kinds of people, comparing the neighborhood's past and present, thinking about who wins and who loses, and more importantly what can be done about it, are steps towards making a difference".