When neighborhoods experience gentrification, the social fabric can undergo severe stress - neighbors often don't know or trust each other; conflicts in neighborhood standards emerge; some cash out and others feel victimized by newly imposed norms and escalating taxes; and dramatic changes occur in the business district. Competing interests may create factions within the neighborhood, often organized around differences in lifestyle, ethnicity, and income. This dramatic change often impacts neighborhood leadership and can make success in managing gentrification far more challenging. But gentrifying neighborhoods don't have to be battlegrounds with winners and losers. They can be places that foster cooperation rather than conflict, engage neighbors to better understand and address the changes taking place, and inspire a shared vision for the future.
When Gentrification Comes Knocking - Navigating Social Dynamics in Changing Neighborhoods
was a unique forum for practitioners, board members, researchers and policymakers who work with neighborhoods that are experiencing gentrification now, have in the past, or may in the future. It included dramatic interpretation by BREAKING ICE, a panel of speakers, group and individual exercises, a special luncheon, and afternoon breakout sessions. More details to come!
Symposium sponsored by
