"Displaced by Design" was published under the auspices of the Washington, D.C.-based National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a network representing more than 700 nonprofit community development and finance organizations. And while gentrification happens in many parts of the country, Bruce Mitchell, NCRC's lead researcher and the author of the study, notes that Denver stands out among all of the areas he analyzed.
"Denver has been a consistent city that has appeared on the list since the 1970s," Mitchell says. "When we look at Denver from the 1970s and 1980s, we find a downtown core area that's undergone gentrification, and it's spread outside that core since then. Gentrification has been particularly intensive in Denver over the long term."
One area that's seen a lot of gentrification? Uptown. But in comments on the Westword Facebook post, readers share broader concerns about the city...and some compliments. Says Harvey:
I just purchased a condo in Uptown and moved from Phoenix. Uptown offers great walkability and the varied architecture of the homes is interesting.Adds Jeannie:
Gentrification has been raising the cost of living wherever it happens. Californians recolonizing the country and bringing their cost of living with them.Notes Dana:
There was less crime in my neighborhood before it was gentrified.Recalls Lewis:
Mayor Hancock and Denver City Council invited the swarm of developer locusts and they destroyed almost everything that was fun, interesting, old and different about Denver. All they left was sterile corporate design and a city with a dying soul.Responds MR:
Unless we’re talking about mountains and rivers, you should be thanking your local developer who also built everything that is/was fun, interesting and different in Denver. Are people just clueless as to how cities came about and exist and grow today?Responds Matt:
You would hate to see what they did to Denver in the '60s!Adds Cindy:
When I was at UCD in the early '70s, there were blocks of scraped old buildings from Larimer Square to 18th Street. Later, in the '90s, when i was in graduate school at UCD, we invited a renowned urban planner to speak to us in Denver. He said that if we weren't careful, Denver would end up looking like any other faceless downtown and urban core. And here we are. Dana Crawford, come back.
Suggests Robert:
We need political leaders who will follow the academic evidence on how to avoid involuntary displacement. Instead, we have a zoning code that makes it illegal to build the most affordable housing types in 80 percent of the city.
Concludes Ben:
In such a woke city, too. Our leaders talk big about diversity and inclusivity but it's all bullshit, the Democrat way.What do you think of how Denver's developed? Have you visited Uptown lately? Post a comment or share your thoughts at [email protected].
