How to Kill a City

1. Gentrification is a systemic process, not individual acts

Gentrification is much more than the physical renovation of residential and commercial spaces. It marks the replacement of the publicly regulated Keynesian inner city—replete with physical and institutional remnants of a system designed to ameliorate the inequality of capitalism—with the privately regulated neoliberalized spaces of exclusion.

Systemic transformation. Gentrification is not simply about hipsters moving into poor neighborhoods or new coffee shops opening. It's a large-scale economic and political process that fundamentally reshapes cities to benefit capital over people. This process involves:

• Dismantling social welfare systems and public housing
• Privatizing and deregulating urban spaces and services
• Reorienting city governments to prioritize profit over people's needs
• Displacing low-income residents and communities of color

Not just individual choices. While individual gentrifiers may not intend harm, their collective actions are part of broader structural forces:

• Real estate speculation and profit-seeking
• Government policies favoring development over affordability
• Historical patterns of racial and economic segregation
• Global flows of capital into urban real estate markets

2. Urban renewal and suburbanization set the stage for gentrification

The suburbs were the prototype for gentrification, not aesthetically but economically. Suburbanization was the original American experiment in using real estate to reinvigorate capitalism. Gentrification can be understood as a continuation of that experiment—suburbanization part two.

Roots of urban inequality. Mid-20th century urban renewal and suburbanization created the conditions for today's gentrification:

• Federal policies subsidized white flight to suburbs
• Urban neighborhoods were razed for highways and public housing projects
• Redlining and discrimination concentrated poverty in inner cities
• Deindustrialization gutted urban economies

Cycle of disinvestment and reinvestment. This history created a "rent gap" between actual and potential land values in cities:

• Decades of disinvestment lowered property values in urban cores
• Low prices eventually attracted real estate speculation and development
• Gentrification capitalizes on this gap, displacing longtime residents

3. Displacement and cultural loss are hallmarks of gentrification

It's not sharing the table. It's coming here and shoving our shit off the table and then demanding we eat your shit.

Forced relocation. Gentrification pushes out longtime residents through various mechanisms:

• Rapidly rising rents and property taxes
• Evictions and buyouts by landlords and developers
• Loss of affordable housing stock
• Cultural and commercial displacement

Community disruption. Beyond physical displacement, gentrification erases longstanding cultures and social networks:

• Closure of local businesses and community institutions
• Loss of public spaces and gathering places
• Influx of new residents with different cultural norms
• Policing and criminalization of existing communities

Psychological toll. The stress and trauma of displacement impacts mental and physical health:

• Anxiety about housing insecurity
• Loss of social support systems
• Feelings of alienation in changing neighborhoods
• Health impacts of relocation and instability

4. Gentrification is driven by profit-seeking and government policies

The crux of poor people's urban problem is that their routines—indeed their very being—are often damaging to exchange values.

Real estate speculation. Gentrification is fundamentally about extracting profit from urban land:

• Developers and investors seek to maximize returns
• Properties are viewed as financial assets, not homes
• "Highest and best use" prioritizes exchange value over use value

Government complicity. Local governments often facilitate gentrification through policies like:

• Tax breaks and subsidies for luxury development
• Rezoning to allow for higher-density, higher-profit uses
• Privatization of public housing and services
• Marketing cities as destinations for wealthy residents and tourists

Growth machine politics. Cities increasingly operate as "growth machines" focused on:

• Attracting capital investment and high-income residents
• Competing with other cities for mobile capital
• Prioritizing economic growth over social equity
• Measuring success by rising property values and tax revenues

5. Tech industry fuels extreme gentrification in San Francisco

The new Detroit is unable to account for the fact that while the tide of particular sections of Detroit does indeed seem to be rising, the rest of the city continues to fall to pieces.

Tech boom impact. The influx of highly-paid tech workers has radically reshaped San Francisco:

• Skyrocketing housing costs (median 1-bedroom rent over $3,000)
• Mass displacement of working-class residents and communities of color
• Closure of longstanding local businesses and cultural institutions
• Growing inequality and stark contrasts between rich and poor

City policy exacerbates crisis. San Francisco's government has actively courted tech growth:

• Tax breaks for tech companies (e.g. Twitter's $30 million deal)
• Rezoning to allow office and luxury housing development
• Insufficient protections for existing residents and businesses
• Emphasis on attracting "creative class" professionals

Regional effects. Gentrification ripples outward from San Francisco:

• Displaced residents pushed to suburbs and exurbs
• Rising costs in Oakland, San Jose, and other nearby cities
• Extreme commutes for service workers priced out of the city
• Loss of diversity throughout the Bay Area

6. Detroit's "revival" benefits few while displacing many

Nobody wants to inject race into the marvelous story of downtown's rebound, driven largely by young creatives who grew up in the suburbs and are now fiercely Detroiters. I don't either. It's a downer.

Uneven development. Detroit's much-hyped comeback is largely limited to the downtown core:

• Billions invested in 7.2 square miles of "Greater Downtown"
• Rest of city continues to struggle with poverty and disinvestment
• African American residents largely excluded from revitalization
• Longtime residents face rising costs and potential displacement

Corporate control. A handful of wealthy individuals and companies drive redevelopment:

• Dan Gilbert (Quicken Loans) owns 80+ downtown buildings
• Corporate-funded foundations shape planning and policy
• Public resources diverted to subsidize private development
• Little accountability or community input in decision-making

Racial dynamics. Detroit's gentrification highlights persistent racial inequities:

• White newcomers hailed as "saviors" of the city
• Black residents' longstanding efforts to revitalize ignored
• Displacement of African American cultural institutions and businesses
• Concerns about gentrification dismissed as opposition to "progress"

7. New Orleans used Katrina as opportunity for gentrification

Hurricane Katrina was an awful event. But it presented the opportunity for New Orleans to become this country's laboratory and hub for innovation and change.

Disaster capitalism. City leaders saw Hurricane Katrina as a chance to remake New Orleans:

• Mass displacement of low-income and Black residents
• Demolition of public housing projects
• Privatization of public school system
• Tax incentives and subsidies for luxury development

Uneven recovery. Post-Katrina rebuilding prioritized certain areas and demographics:

• Rapid gentrification of neighborhoods like Bywater and Tremé
• Slow or non-existent recovery in low-income areas
• Influx of young, mostly white "urban pioneers"
• Loss of affordable housing and longtime cultural institutions

Resistance and resilience. Many residents fought to preserve their communities:

• Grassroots organizing against displacement and demolitions
• Efforts to maintain cultural traditions and social networks
• Legal challenges to discriminatory policies
• Alternative visions for equitable redevelopment

8. New York's gentrification has deep historical roots

New York's deindustrialization was kicked into overdrive when an RPA-backed group called the Citizens Committee for Modern Zoning formed in the late 1950s to pressure the city to rezone.

Long-term strategy. New York's transformation began decades before current gentrification:

• 1920s plans to remake Manhattan for finance and luxury housing
• 1950s-60s deindustrialization and "urban renewal" projects
• 1970s fiscal crisis used to slash public services and unions
• 1980s-90s focus on attracting global capital and tourists

Zoning as tool. New York has long used zoning to shape development:

• 1961 rezoning limited manufacturing, encouraged office/luxury housing
• Recent rezonings facilitate gentrification in outer boroughs
• Preservation of wealthy enclaves while poor areas upzoned

Financial dominance. New York's economy increasingly revolves around real estate:

• FIRE industries (finance, insurance, real estate) replace manufacturing
• Property values become key metric of city's economic health
• Housing treated as investment vehicle rather than social good

9. Activism and community organizing can resist gentrification

All of this country's history is a history of black resistance. When we fight back, change happens. It's the getting us to stand up and fight back that's the issue. When do we get to a point where we stand up and say, 'I'm fired up, I can't take it no more'?

Grassroots power. Communities are fighting back against displacement:

• Tenant organizing and rent strikes
• Legal challenges to evictions and unfair development
• Protests and direct action against luxury projects
• Community land trusts and cooperative housing models

Policy advocacy. Activists push for structural changes to address root causes:

• Strengthening rent control and tenant protections
• Demanding community benefits agreements from developers
• Pushing for more public and affordable housing investment
• Challenging racist zoning and planning practices

Alternative visions. Organizers promote equitable development models:

• Community-led planning processes
• Public ownership and democratic control of land
• Green, sustainable, and culturally-appropriate design
• Prioritizing existing residents' needs over profit

10. Equitable urban development requires systemic change

Private investment shapes cities, but social ideas (and laws) shape private investment. First comes the image of what we want, then the machinery is adapted to turn out that image.

Reimagining cities. Truly addressing gentrification requires fundamental shifts:

• Treating housing as a human right, not a commodity
• Democratizing urban planning and development
• Addressing historical patterns of racial segregation and disinvestment
• Prioritizing community stability over speculative profit

Policy solutions. Potential approaches to foster more equitable cities:

• Expand public and social housing
• Implement rent control and just cause eviction protections
• Community control of land through land trusts and cooperatives
• Progressive taxation to fund affordable housing and services

Broader struggle. Urban justice connects to other movements:

• Economic justice and workers' rights
• Racial equity and reparations
• Environmental sustainability
• Democratic socialism and alternatives to capitalism

Last updated: September 10, 2024