Gentrification is just the observation that a cycle of depreciation and investment exists. Buildings are allowed to wear out and eventually are reinvested in to bring them back up to spec. The issue in many American cities is that entire core areas were built rapidly then abandoned by the middle class as soon as they showed signs of wear. These areas have never been really reinvested and are now home to extreme concentration of poverty and segregation.
Those opposing "Gentrification" are basically saying "let's never fix these buildings that haven't been update in 100 years... And btw we prefer extreme racial segregation and extreme concentration of poverty."
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Originally Posted by M II A II R II K
Gentrification can also displace a neighbourhood's unique character with its mom & pop and novelty shops and replace it with meaningless chain stores that you can see anywhere.
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In Chicago the only thing Gentrification is replacing is vacant storefronts with trendy mom and pop boutiques. When you get wayyyyy down the road here you might see a chain or two pop up, but by then they are replacing hipster mom and pops, not "the good old neighborhood".