Gentrification in Portland

As many of you may know, Portland has recently become a very popular place to live with Oregon being the number one state people moved to in 2015, and in fact, it has stayed at the top of this list for three years. Unfortunately, Portland also tops the list of the most gentrified cities in America. According to statistics provided by a report called Gentrification in America, Portland gentrified 58.1% of the eligible tracts. Essentially this means that of the regions in Portland that met the qualifications to be gentrified, almost 60% of them were.

Gentrification in Portland is heavily focused
on neighborhoods in Northeast Portland

Gentrification is a process that basically increases the property values of lower-income urban communities through wealthier people purchasing and renovating properties, therefore increasing their value. This rapid increase forces many of the lower-income families as well as small businesses to be displaced from the community because they can no longer afford it. As neighborhoods in Portland become less and less affordable and rate of people moving to Portland becomes greater, this means more families are being kicked out of their homes and sometimes even forced to move out of the city entirely.

This is a huge concern, because if residents or families are already precariously housed, for example are facing eviction or are living with friend or relative, this rising gentrification can push them out onto the streets or shelters. Although there is no silver bullet to end gentrification, it is extremely important that Portland combats this displacement of lower-income neighborhoods. Not only is gentrification directly adding to Portland's rising homeless population, but the decrease in affordable housing also makes it far more difficult for people to make their way off of the streets and back into stable housing.

-Kendra