Gentrification is a phenomenon where the more prosperous people are moved or moved into areas that the poor people previously occupied. These often cause an increase in the number of people in the neighborhood, thus causing amenities such as rent and the value of houses to increase and also changing the cultural and social values of the newly occupied area. Gentrification can have both good and ill effects, but in this paper, we will discuss more of the negativity caused by it. Most parts of the world take it as a changing process that has given a new shape to the urban cities worldwide (Daly, Andy). It also provides a sketch of the changing gentrification, where it gives exposure to economic growth, change in the community, and social equity.
It is mostly not a size concept and how its effects vary from one neighborhood to another. To the people also leading the cities(leaders), it dramatically affects them positively and negatively depending on how well they can balance the interests of their community members, which is primarily a problematic role and requires attention and being careful on the changing and the upcoming neighborhood. The core purpose of this paper is to discuss the main impacts of gentrification on housing affordability for people in the Costa Mesa area. These impacts are Cost, Policy analysis, Ethical consideration, Culture Erosion, and Displacement.
Cost is the total value of money that is required to cover all expenses and also give rise to a product or service. It is one of the impacts in the Costa Mesa area. It affects various things, such as increased rent charges, increased value of houses, loss of affordable house units, and displacement of economic activities(Daly, Andy). The rent to be paid after gentrification automatically rises because now that the rich people have relocated, the landlords can charge and increase the value of the rent. It is mainly brought about by the increased demand for houses so that the new tenants can pay a massive amount. This can cause the individuals who were there before to find it challenging to afford the massive rent, leading to them being displaced.
As a result of the new rich people in the community, there are improved social amenities, houses, and infrastructure, which leads to increased value of taxes and leads to a complicated and unaffordable life for the previous residents. The businesses that were there before may be replaced by new upgraded services and businesses, raising the cost of living and being more expensive for the low-earning previous residents. Finally, it can lead to the destruction of the previous affordable houses and the building of newly developed units, thus causing the low earners to be displaced and own nothing(Daly, Andy). To curb these, leaders should devise a strategy that equalizes both old and new residents to conserve the affordability of houses for them all.
Policy analysis involves assessing the policies and programs that have been proposed to give an understanding of the main impacts, effects, and how effective something is. Its main objective is to provide the policymakers, leaders, and all the stakeholders involved with complete information and recommendations so that they make well-informed decisions about how they can develop, improve, and implement all the policies. Identifying the problem is the first process: collecting the data, searching for other alternatives, and giving solutions to improve (Treskon, Mark, et al.). The main identified problem in the Costa Mesa area is gentrification- housing affordability; the data collected is on the income levels of most individuals and the house prices and get to understand how these factors have changed and by what percentage from when the poor lived in there to now that the rich have dominated the area.
Policy relating to housing development in the Costa Mesa area should be examined to determine how effective they are. After analyzing the policy, the policymakers should make recommendations on how to change the policy to avoid the circumstances of displacing people and leaving them homeless (Treskon, Mark, et al.). The new policies can then be monitored closely so that necessary changes or implementation can be done from the feedback response received.
Ethical consideration is the impact of gentrification on the people of the Costa Mesa area; it involves how certain decisions impact and how they bring consequences. Some effects on ethical consideration are unfair displacement, violation of human rights, and lack of transparency and accountability (Depsky). Gentrification is very unfair because it can displace people who lived there years ago, who earn less income just because they cannot raise the amount for rent, pay taxes, or even afford to buy a house.
It raises many questions on why it is unfair to displace them and cause disruption in the community. It violates the right to housing, an elementary human right in the Costa area. It makes the houses unaffordable and makes affording shelter impossible for many people who are low-income earners (Depsky). It also needs more accountability and transparency because the urban development processes the ownership of these rich new people in the community. At the same time, they will know that the area is already occupied, causing mistrust and issues because the rich will always win and bribe them. To eradicate all these issues, development should be transparent and fair and change some policies to accommodate both the wealthy new occupants and the old poor occupants.
Finally, culture erosion is another impact brought about by gentrification; it refers to the loss of the central cultural values, practices, and traditions of people in the Costa Mesa area (Cruz et al.) Gentrification brings about a change in the values by making people who well know the customs and traditions and have an excellent socioeconomic background overtaken by the new residents because they can longer afford to live in the area because of the high rates of rent, which will lead to the community losing its traditions and the community ties.
The wealthy new occupants of the area have very different lifestyle tastes and preferences compared to the low-income people, which gradually eliminated the old cultures, uniqueness, and identity of people in the Costa Mesa area (Cruz et al.). All this will cause a loss of the diversity that was earlier found in the area, erasing the sense of the community and the cultural heritage of the community is not preserved; this should be eliminated by having the implementation of control policies for the housing affordability to accommodate the people who had been living in Costa Mesa area before.
In conclusion, the leaders in Costa Mesa should come up with and implement local policies to accommodate and improve the harmful effects that are caused by gentrification and put more effort into the Cost, Cultural erosion, ethical consideration, and policy analysis that will bring better outcomes when looked into and the low-income individuals in Costa Mesa area will feel that they belong and are being considered.
REFERENCES
Cruz, Teddy, and Fonna Forman. Socializing Architecture: Top-Down/Bottom-Up. MIT Press, 2023.
Daly, Andy. “Politics, Players, and Legislation in the California Housing Crisis.” (2023).
Depsky, Nicholas J. Evaluating Climate Impacts and Inequities in Regions Prone to Human Displacement and Out-migration. Diss. University of California, Berkeley, 2023.
Treskon, Mark, et al. “Local and State Policies to Improve Access to Affordable Housing.” (2023).
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