Why is this an issue?

To understand gentrification today, we must look back to policies that shaped the structure of Dallas communities. In the early 20th century, redlining and racial segregation prevented Black and Latino families from accessing loans and housing resources. These “red zones” were systematically excluded from investment, leaving long-lasting damage.

Even though redlining was outlawed during the Civil Rights era, its legacy remains. Areas once denied resources are now being “rediscovered” by developers—not to benefit those who lived there for generations, but to profit from them. 

1937 Dallas Red Zoning ("Southern Methodist University")

Victim of Displacement Antonio Vargas ("The Guardian")

How does it affect the community? 

With rising levels of property values, rent and taxes for these areas must also increase. This has a highly negative impact on local long term residents. One example in particular demonstrates the extremity of lifestyle this impacts. Antonio Vargas is a resident of Dallas who saw these impacts firsthand. His childhood home was sold to luxury real estate developers to build new uptown style housing costing “ between $1,450 and $1,900 a month -- 300% more than the rents some former residents had been paying”(‘We don't fit the demographic').

What are the proponents arguing? 

 

The advocates for gentrification say that it can lead to: 

  • Better healthcare access

  • Safer streets

  • Job creation in new restaurants, shops, and services

 

 

But at what cost?

While there are a few pros like updating infrastructure, these changes go beyond physical structures—they erase cultures, churches, community centers, and traditions. What was once a tight-knit neighborhood becomes an unfamiliar place, filled with outsiders and higher costs.

 

Gentrification doesn’t just build new—it destroys the old without asking permission.

September 2023 Neighborhood Protest ("The Medium")