CityLab Daily: How Gentrification Changes a Sense of Community

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Won’t you be my neighbor? A lot happens when a neighborhood gentrifies. Existing residents may see some positive effects—affluent neighbors tending to bring safer streets or improved schools—and newcomers might even pick a place based on the potential for the kind of community they seek. But the sense of community in these neighborhoods can suffer as a result of these changes. That’s a key finding from a new paper on Philadelphia’s gentrifying neighborhoods, where residents reported a lessened sense of trust and belonging compared to people in neighborhoods that weren’t gentrifying.