What causes gentrification? If black people have the economic power to live comfortably in the homes that would help. Too often we are struggling to make ends meet and we accept the carrots dangled at us to move.
So how do we make the mortgages on those homes less of a millstone?
Good question, and I’m not going to pretend to be an expert. I can give an educated guess though.
I think gentrification happens when White people decided they wanted to move back into cities from the suburbs. It is like reverse White Flight. Also when cities and states want to do major business projects and they need to find available real estate to make it happen.
I think Bloomberg initiative address some of this, but It need it to be outlined a little more. The housing initiative In theory should help. If more Black people owned their home it would be harder to price them out because they would be on a fixed mortgage. You would still have to worry about property taxes raising at an unaffordable rate though. Also if more Black Business are created in theory more Black workers will be hired. I know it would depend on a variety of variables, like where these business are located, and what industry they in. But it should help. Also in certain areas this will be harder. For example my wife is from a Black area in Brooklyn were there are not a ton of houses. If that neighborhood is upgraded there will not really be any opportunities for Black people to buy homes there. But I’m from Buffalo, NY and in Buffalo this housing plan would work much better in Black neighborhoods, because we don’t have a bunch of high raise buildings. Like I said I’m not an expert and I would love to hear other opinions on this.