Monday, March 31, 2008

 

New Report: Nation's Gentrified Neighborhoods Threatened By Aristocratization

by Ben Greenberg

This new report reminds us yet again why it is so important to follow the independent press. You never get ground truth like this in the mainstream media.
WASHINGTON—According to a report released Tuesday by the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, the recent influx of exceedingly affluent powder-wigged aristocrats into the nation's gentrified urban areas is pushing out young white professionals, some of whom have lived in these neighborhoods for as many as seven years.

Maureen Kennedy, a housing policy expert and lead author of the report, said that the enormous treasure-based wealth of the aristocracy makes it impossible for those living on modest trust funds to hold onto their co-ops and converted factory loft spaces.

"When you have a bejeweled, buckle-shoed duke willing to pay 11 or 12 times the asking price for a block of renovated brownstones—and usually up front with satchels of solid gold guineas—hardworking white-collar people who only make a few hundred thousand dollars a year simply cannot compete," Kennedy said. "If this trend continues, these exclusive, vibrant communities with their sidewalk cafés and faux dive bars will soon be a thing of the past."
Read the whole thing at The Onion.

Photo credit: © Copyright 2008, Onion, Inc.

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3/31/2008 11:25:00 AM 1 comments links to this post