Congratulations! You Gentrify: Displacing a Community

Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2017 · 184 posts · 204 votes

This question is one I pose to anyone who has an opinion on the topic.

Obviously we're all here because we like something about the idea of REI and passive income. As the process goes, we find a "good deal" in some area, maybe make an improvement or 2 to the "deal", and if all goes well, we sit back watch the fruits of our labor grow through rental income, increased property value or equity. Now, multiply this by 100... 100 of us have found 100 deals, made 100 improvements, and raised 100 property values.

Boom. We just gentrified an area. A community that used to live there can no longer afford to be where they've grown up because there were a lot of good "deals" for investors to take advantage of and help our families and bolster our investment portfolio.

Granted, we may not have intentionally displaced a community, but collectively, we do. We just saw an opportunity and took advantage.

The question(s) I pose:

Do you think gentrification is an issue?
Do any of you ever struggle with the reality that we collectively price people out of their communities?
Do you ever think of it that way?
Do you ever feel bad about contributing to the gentrification of communities?
What are the alternatives?

This is just a philosophy question and some things that I think of, not pointing fingers or trying to be accusatory, or maybe I am. Just wanting to get a conversation started!

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James Free

Rental Property Investor · Fort Collins, CO · Member since 2015 · 128 posts · 327 votes

"Gentrification" is not wrong.

A neighborhood is either desirable or expensive or undesirable and inexpensive. It can move in either direction for a variety of reasons.

Maybe a community loses its industry and there are no more jobs, so prices go down, but it's still a bad place to live because there are no jobs and no future. Maybe hot new industries come to town and the opposite happens.

Maybe crime goes up, and people who can afford to leave move away. Maybe crime goes down, and people who used to avoid the neighborhood start moving in.

The list goes on and on.

Suppose we have a low-cost area that is in reasonable commuting distance from high-paying jobs. Why is it low-cost if it's so well-located? The obvious answers include crime and dilapidation. There are two ways things can go from here: The conditions improve and the prices go up, or the conditions stay lousy and the prices stay low. The "anti-gentrification" crowd tells you that price increases are immoral, but are they really ok with crime-ridden slums? Of course not. They promote magical thinking - the idea that we can get rid of crime and fix up the buildings without increasing the prices, even though the only reason that the prices were low was the conditions!

All of this without even mentioning that everyone who OWNs in a "gentrifying" neighborhood wins the appreciation lottery.

Shorter commutes are more green. It's better for society as a whole if the people working the high-paying jobs live near them. People doing little to no work don't have any particular reason to prefer one area to another, nor should we pander to them. The idea that you are more entitled to live in a particular area if you "started out there" has terrible implications and quickly becomes oppressive.

Finally, of course, the elephant in the room is identity politics. Most ant-gentrification rhetoric usually stems from toxic identity politics. People who get very angry when Identity Group A is displaced by Identity Group B don't care one whit when the opposite happens somewhere else. At best, such people are consistent in supporting the displacement of "richer" people by "poorer" people, or at least those they imagine to be so, while opposing the displacement of "poorer" by "richer." But adding emotional rhetoric doesn't change the facts above.

There is no good reason to keep crime in place, to keep dilapidation un-remedied, or to maintain filthy hovels when better alternatives are available.

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Michael Ealy
Developer · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
Originally posted by @Dennis M.:

Yes I think gentrification is a thing and yes it’s a good thing because it makes my dumpy property worth a lot more . Do I care that it displaces yadda yadda ? No I don’t , atleast I’m being honest .
look I’m doing this to get rich not change the whole world or even the individual . That’s his personal responsibility to change himself , not mine . My responsibility is to be a good productive citizen and provide for my family . Capitalism is a good thing . God gave it us and It brings up everybody -IF -your willing to put the effort in to claim your cut .sadly 50% of society thinks they are owed something these days and refuses to do their fair share . I have no pity for the sluggard who won’t work , notice I didn’t say “ couldn’t” work .
I agree with Dennis.
Gentrification is a good thing.
Are we investors to be blamed for displacing certain groups of people?
No.
Real estate investors should NOT be blamed for buying a dilapidated property, improving it and providing decent housing to people.
The collateral benefits (opposite of collateral damage) of making the neighborhood a safer place to live and making property values rise as more people move to the now desirable area - investors have no control over those. Sometimes, I can improve my buildings but other landlords don't so the area does not appreciate as much.
I think our time is better spent not on philosophical questions like these but on helping people here to learn real estate investing.
7 Reply
Eric Carr
Real Estate Broker · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 655 posts · 293 votes
7y
As people move into an area - especially as demand in good areas drives costs up, as jobs multiply, as the kids who want to buy a house can't afford where they grew up and can only rent where they work, previously lower valued areas become attractive. I've seen it in LA over the last 25 years, I can easily point out 15 communities that have and are going through and will see gentrification. The reasons why are pretty simple and overall I think it's good for a locale. In fact I've done a video on the topic, why I think LA real estate is undervalued - at least we will look back at todays prices and think they are a deal. There are a lot of bonuses, improved properties, more demand which means higher tax basis, more money for nearby schools, and parks, and community improvements, and an opportunity for people to afford a home - often fairly close to where they cant (in LA at least). It's quite common to find the OG residents of these areas have live in the home for decades, sometimes generations. They see their community improve and their property values go up. All good stuff. It's another issue for renters, that much is obvious.
We all have the same chance, the right to make our own decisions. Part of that opportunity is investing in a growing area, and improving it for a profit. Some people start off at a disadvantage compared to others, and I understand that. I've been there. I think more needs to be done as far as education and financial education goes - like this website - and affordable housing needs a facelift. I don't believe rent control, as is, is helping those who need it most.
I think we need a new work or phrase to replace gentrification. Gentrification is cold and technical.
2 Reply
JD MartinBusiness Member
Moderator
Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
7y
I don't want to start a chorus of "let's dump on the poor", but I just had an experience that sums up the plight of a lot of people. I stopped at Walgreens to pick up some dental floss and got in line. In front of me was a lady, maybe 60 or slightly older, with a few coupons on the register. I looked at her items. She had a box of chocolates, 3 small bags of Ghodiva somethings, and about 10 greeting cards. Then they had to do the whole coupon thing and "how come that coupon doesn't work" dance. Anyway, at the end of this process the bill came out to almost $77.00 . The cashier explained to the customer how she "saved" $17.00 by using her coupons and points, to which the customer replied "Well, every little bit helps, you know things are tight."
OK. I couldn't care what someone buys. But if "things are tight", the litany of bad choices here makes your head spin:
- Buying from Walgreens instead of a regular store, which tends to be much more expensive because of 'convenience'
- Buying greeting cards in a store at $4/card instead of a box of them online or even discount ones in Walgreens
- Expensive chocolate that could be bought for cheaper elsewhere
- Buying *any* of this stuff when there were probably all kinds of alternatives that could have cut that price by $50 or more
I know a lot of poor people. Most of them lack good decisions more than they lack money. Maybe she needed all that stuff for someone's party - but if things are tight, wouldn't a little planning have saved most of that money?
It's the same thing with neighborhoods and gentrification. If you choose not to purchase a home - and today there's so many programs that can get just about anyone into a home that you have to actively not want to own a home - then you get certain benefits from that choice, and are exposed to certain risks. You won't have to fix anything, and you're super mobile, but you are at the mercy of the market and cannot build any ownership equity. That's the trade-off.
OK, I'm off the soapbox now 😁
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Luka Milicevic
Real Estate Agent · Nashville, TN · Member since 2015 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
7y
I can speak from some experience as we have a ton of this going on in Nashville, TN. It's non stop in the news too.
"Evil, greedy developers displace long-time residents"
There was an article not too long ago in the Tennessean about how an elderly lady was "forced" out of her house by the greedy developers. This is how the article painted the picture, that these awful developers forced her to sell her house.
Until I looked at the numbers.
She purchased a house in the 12 south area, which is very close to downtown for $48,000. She sold it to the evil developers for $646,000. That's a gain of $598,000. To put that into perspective-she made so much money on the sale of her house that she would have to pay capital gains tax on an actual primary residence even if she was married, filing jointly. Yet the Tennessean portrayed her as a victim of gentrification. She VOLUNTARILY sold her house, but she is being "pushed out"
This is common place in the Nashville news now. Home owners are being "forced" to sell to developers using aggressive tactics. The "aggressive tactics" being code violations reported on the property. Code violations are anonymous, so it could be the neighbors reporting them, or maybe the city is just doing their job? How does one force a home sale? Only the bank can do that in a foreclosure, or the government. No buyer can force a seller to sell anything unless they are threatening them, which i'm pretty sure is a felony.
I have looked into many of these cases where long time residents are being pushed out and forced out of their neighborhoods. They all have one thing in common. They voluntarily sold their homes for significantly more than they purchased them.
But what do I know....
7 Reply
Guido Sanchez
Rental Property Investor · Clifton, NJ · Member since 2019 · 24 posts · 14 votes
7y
@Jim K.
Love the take no bull**** attitude. People complain and forget or don't know how good we have it. Fortunately, there are alternatives to the carnage and bloody mess that was in our homo sapiens,(wise man) history. Too bad it's taking more than a century to finally, kinda, sort of figure out, lol. Most of it deals with technology, we are all fat and happy because there's an abundance of food. Technology is only going to get better and faster and eventually there will be breakthroughs that will make clean water accessible to all and energy free or very cheap. I am not a communist, I love capitalism. Capitalism is going to create the solutions to fix these pesky problems, it will take time, (hopefully not another 400 years). The problem investors will face at the end is the last "fools" holding the debt. I need to flex my capitalism muscles and get stronger. FAST!
One of my favorite quotes is "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." By Genghis Khan (I kid, I kid)
2 Reply
John Nachtigall
Santa Rosa, CA · Member since 2017 · 325 posts · 701 votes
7y
Good Thread, My $0.02
1. Do you think gentrification is an issue?
Like gravity is an "issue". It is an economic force, it is neither good or bad, it just exists
2. Do any of you ever struggle with the reality that we collectively price people out of their communities?
No, It is a downside of capitalism, but given the alternative it is the best available economic system. Even "Democratic Socialist" countries are actually capitalist (with very strong welfare states). Socialism, communism, even feudalism just leave everyone poor.
3. Do you ever think of it that way?
Again, I acknowledge it is true. San Francisco has gentrified 10x over, as one example. When do you "stop" it. I recently saw an article where a person who moved to San Francisco was mad because they moved during the dot.com boom/bust in 1997. Now they were being priced out by the Uber people. They were oblivious to the fact they priced out someone in 1997 the same way.
4. Do you ever feel bad about contributing to the gentrification of communities?
No, given the alternatives this is a net good.
5.  What are the alternatives?
The alternative is no gentrification
https://www.politico.com/interactives/2017/obamacare-cleveland-clinic-non-profit-hospital-taxes/
The above example with Cleveland Clinic is the perfect "no gentrification" story. They have had almost zero affect on the neighborhood around them. The rent control/gentrification/anti-capitalists should be ecstatic. Rents are low, people are not being forced out in droves. The elderly and poor are economically allowed to stay in their homes for decades. No new development (outside of the hospital expansions) is buying up real estate.  When you listen to the anti-gentrification crowd that is everything they are asking for. But they don't...they hate it. Because that state of stagnation is actually awful for everyone.
To steal a line from Churchill. Gentrification is the worst alternative, except for everything else.
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Andre' Arceneaux
Rental Property Investor · Orange County, CA · Member since 2019 · 151 posts · 92 votes
7y
@Jim K. Why would you pose a hyper sensitive question about your people when his question is primarily concerned with issues his people deal with?!??
This isn't Turkey or Greece. Thanks for the history lesson and unnecessary lashing rhetoric regarding favors, but he posed questions in a manner that clearly triggered you ...
5 Reply
Andre' Arceneaux
Rental Property Investor · Orange County, CA · Member since 2019 · 151 posts · 92 votes
7y
@Joe Splitrock The presumption is that the areas deteriorate without jobs leaving. That is actually HOW they detroriate. Look at Detroit. Look at Oakland (East in particular), look at Cleveland. Industries leave, aren't replaced, services are weaned (ie - policing) more permits for fast food places and convenience stores go up (you don't see this in the areas "fled" to) .. mix these and the property value already takes a hit, which means the school funding will be hit harder (local RE affects school funding in most locales).
It's a train of combustion.
1 Reply
Simon Hernandez
Rental Property Investor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2017 · 37 posts · 11 votes
7y
Interesting. I was just evaluating a MFR in Houston's Third Ward. Researchers from The Kinder Institute For Urban Research came out with this interactive map of Houston which shows the calculated probability of gentrification in each neighborhood. A very interesting perusal for those in that market. https://ricegis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=bd4e77b646f6494ea1711bb381cf8fc5
3 Reply
Jolan B Bastien
Laurel, MD · Member since 2018 · 2 posts · 8 votes
7y
Wow. What a triggering/charged thread.
I think one thing that has been left out that may need to be added here is that many urban centers became slums because resources were siphoned out of inner city neighborhoods to the suburbs. A true look at history shows this to be an indisputable fact. This was not the fault of the people living there, yet they are feeling the effects of us, investors, swooping in to buy the now-hot property.
My plan, in the long run, is to provide a few of my units as lower income housing. As someone who grew up in section 8 housing (in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. I am an example of how African American is not synonymous with "urban"), I know how much of a boon this can be to hardworking families who are just not making enough to live in the suburbs (without assistance) and who are now being priced out of city centers as well.
I don't expect many contributors to this thread to agree or understand, and I am not looking to argue. I am just hoping to offer another perspective to the conversation.
Now, for the questions:
Do you think gentrification is an issue?

Do any of you ever struggle with the reality that we collectively price people out of their communities?

Do you ever think of it that way?

Do you ever feel bad about contributing to the gentrification of communities?

What are the alternatives?

Wishing success and prosperity as they see fit to all.

8 Reply

Rhonda McDaniel

Realtor · Tulsa, OK · Member since 2019 · 76 posts · 42 votes

@Evan Parker I’m interested in other’s answers. From a social work perspective a mixed community of upper and lower income is seen as positive. This reduces segregation of rich/poor or haves/have nots and is supposed to help with the cycle of poverty.

3 Reply

John Sharpe

Crestline, CA · Member since 2018 · 63 posts · 70 votes

I don't feel bad too about gentrification. It's a normal part of a cycle... communities get worse and get better. I understand concerns about renters finding it more and more expensive to remain in their own community, but with gentrification should come lower crime, more amenities, and hopefully more jobs, transportation and general opportunities for the renters to experience.

I'm much more concerned about short term rentals taking so many housing units out of the rental pool and pushing rental prices up by shrinking the supply of housing.

I remember being a young college student in Orange County where many of us affordably lived in granny flats and guest houses (ADUs) we rented from homeowners. Those have mostly been removed from the rental markets where STRs are more profitable.

2 Reply

James Wise

Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 30k+ posts · 20k+ votes

Originally posted by @Evan Parker:

This question is one I pose to anyone who has an opinion on the topic.

Granted, we may not have intentionally displaced a community, but collectively, we do. We just saw an opportunity and took advantage.

The question(s) I pose:

Do you think gentrification is an issue?
Do any of you ever struggle with the reality that we collectively price people out of their communities?
Do you ever think of it that way?
Do you ever feel bad about contributing to the gentrification of communities?
What are the alternatives?

This is just a philosophy question and some things that I think of, not pointing fingers or trying to be accusatory, or maybe I am. Just wanting to get a conversation started!

Only person one should blame for not being able afford to live in the neighborhood that they want is themselves.

5 Reply

Jim K.

Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes

Originally posted by @Andre' Arceneaux:

@Jim K. Why would you pose a hyper sensitive question about your people when his question is primarily concerned with issues his people deal with?!??

This isn't Turkey or Greece. Thanks for the history lesson and unnecessary lashing rhetoric regarding favors, but he posed questions in a manner that clearly triggered you ...

Andre', I have very little idea what you're talking about and you use an awful lot of semi-literate punctuation. I can't even really tell if you just hinted that if I don't like America I should just STFU and go back to where I came from. Did you just do that? Really?

2 Reply

Brian Adzadi

Allentown, PA · Member since 2016 · 515 posts · 404 votes

@Evan Parker

As someone who has experienced gentrification first hand, you would think I would not be in support of gentrification and all its "problem" it brings. However, I am the complete opposite. I am in complete favor of gentrification.

I lived in the neighborhood of Flatbush Brooklyn, NYC from 1993-2012. So I have seen this neighborhood at its low point to what it is today. In its low point, violence, theft and property damage was a regular day to day activity. Schools were not well funded and littering was rampant.

In the apartment I was living in, there was a few section 8 tenants living there who would invite unsavory characters to hang out in the stairs, smoking, drinking and. The local Chinese restaurant refused to make deliveries to the apartments because the delivery men would get robbed. There was more bodegas selling cigarettes, lottery tickets and high fructose corn syrup juices than supermarkets with fresh fruits and vegetables.

Fast forward to today. The streets are cleaner than its ever been. Property values have gone up. The local elementary school is one of the most in demand public schools in Brooklyn. Crime rate has gone down. There are local restaurants serving gourmet foods and supermarkets selling healthy foods. The Chinese restaurants delivers to my apartments now, LOL.

How did this happen? What changed? Gentrification. Developers came and started to buyout tired mom and pop landlords and homeowners. They either broke down houses and built condos68 or revamped certain apartments. This attracted young upstarts who could not afford Manhattan level rents and middle class families. This created a ripple effect into other areas, better stores, better schools, cleaner and well kept streets.

I had spoken to some of the original residents about the change and of course some do not like it and one of the biggest complaints they had was that the new residents are not as friendly and the neighborhood is starting to have less of a family feel. I understand where they are coming from, however, I feel that is just how the younger generation of people are, Facebook and Instagram friendly and popular but real world lonely. That's just how it is. For me I would take a safer street, lower crime, and better schools than a less friendly neighborhood.

Gentrification incites growth and I will always support growth over stagnation any day.

8 Reply

Evan Parker

Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2017 · 184 posts · 204 votes

Originally posted by @Jim K.:

Originally posted by @Andre' Arceneaux:

@Jim K. Why would you pose a hyper sensitive question about your people when his question is primarily concerned with issues his people deal with?!??

This isn't Turkey or Greece. Thanks for the history lesson and unnecessary lashing rhetoric regarding favors, but he posed questions in a manner that clearly triggered you ...

Relax...it's not that deep. Also, I won't speak on behalf of Andre's intentions, but I personally don't see anything in his response that insinuates
"STFU and go back to where [you] came from" or that you "don't like America", for what that's worth.

Let's all try and keep conversation civil and on topic.

3 Reply

Isaac S.

Member since 2018 · 563 posts · 562 votes

WOW. what a great thread! It perfectly demonstrates pseudo-Marxist ideology being pushed by various liberal arts curriculums and political parties that drives this underlying contempt of capitalism and the opposite end of the spectrum of pure capitalist philosophy.

The people being displaced are helpless victims with no personal responsibility and are a single homogeneous virtuous group of "the workers" and the people displacing them(another homogeneous group) are evil profit hungry rent-seeking capitalist, their to exploit them, "the land owners/investors".

several replies make perfect arguments that represent my feelings about the specific questions posed, i'll let you assume what replies I relate with.

I would offer some more philosophical questions back to the OP and others leaning toward the "socialism" side.

Is a shark evil for eating a seal, or a human?

Is competition more important than cooperation, or is cooperation more important than competition? And are either of them not corruptible?

Do you think that equality of opportunity is the same as equality of outcome?

Can you teach someone who is content in their ignorance?

Can you make a psychopath feel compassion?

My point in posting the above rhetorical questions, is that our 7.5 billion-strong human race is very complex and has widely varying views, values, beliefs and customs, some not as enlightened as others. people like to feel morally superior and more virtuous than others(including you and me). We tend to see what facts support our self-image and view of the world. On any side of the debate.

I think its great that so many self aware, thoughtful and highly conscientious people took time to carefully and thoughtfully address the post and/or that they have obviously already taken enough personal stock to have considered such issues.

I would add that either side, pure capitalism or pure socialism, will always see themselves as somehow magical fix-all solution, that will eliminate ignorance, apathy, laziness, dishonesty, fraud, corruption, power obsession, abusiveness, theft, hate or murder. In fact, either one involves humans, so any of the above are possible, along with kindness, charity, community, honesty, caring, motivation, creativity, generosity, compassion, family and love.

Hopefully, a hybrid or evolutionary combination of beliefs and practices will bring the human race to a higher level of enlightenment, as long as we don't get so outraged at those that don't share our perceptions or beliefs, that we destroy each other first.

6 Reply

Jim K.

Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes

Originally posted by @Evan Parker:

Originally posted by @Jim K.:

Originally posted by @Andre' Arceneaux:

@Jim K. Why would you pose a hyper sensitive question about your people when his question is primarily concerned with issues his people deal with?!??

This isn't Turkey or Greece. Thanks for the history lesson and unnecessary lashing rhetoric regarding favors, but he posed questions in a manner that clearly triggered you ...

Glad I have you as an interpreter, Evan.

1 Reply

Jim K.

Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes

Originally posted by @Isaac S.:

several replies make perfect arguments that represent my feelings about the specific questions posed, i'll let you assume what replies I relate with.

I would offer some more philosophical questions back to the OP and others leaning toward the "socialism" side.

Is a shark evil for eating a seal, or a human?

Is competition more important than cooperation, or is cooperation more important than competition? And are either of them not corruptible?

Do you think that equality of opportunity is the same as equality of outcome?

Can you teach someone who is content in their ignorance?

Can you make a psychopath feel compassion?

Wow, Issac, I think the only question left that you didn't pose was, "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?"

1 Reply

Isaac S.

Member since 2018 · 563 posts · 562 votes

Originally posted by @Jim K.:

Originally posted by @Isaac S.:

several replies make perfect arguments that represent my feelings about the specific questions posed, i'll let you assume what replies I relate with.

I would offer some more philosophical questions back to the OP and others leaning toward the "socialism" side.

Is a shark evil for eating a seal, or a human?

Is competition more important than cooperation, or is cooperation more important than competition? And are either of them not corruptible?

Do you think that equality of opportunity is the same as equality of outcome?

Can you teach someone who is content in their ignorance?

Can you make a psychopath feel compassion?

Wow, Issac, I think the only question left that you didn't pose was, "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?"

1 Reply

Isaac S.

Member since 2018 · 563 posts · 562 votes

@Jim K

LOL...ah yes, the age old "number of angels that can dance on a pin?" question....well, allow me to pontificate further....

1 Reply

Matt Millard

Lewisville, TX · Member since 2015 · 341 posts · 264 votes

Great question & quite a philosophical debate we have on our hands.

I will say it happens for various reasons ie jobs, real estate investors, geographic shifts during/after economic downturns, changing tastes etc. all the time & in different areas sometimes in extremes like San Francisco several times & now Dallas-Fort Worth-Frisco after the 2008 crash!

As someone who has been a longtime Oklahoma investor & now syndication lp specialist & co-owning a couple companies & ventures who grew up in North Dallas Fort Worth & returned for a season after college to be more around family it’s very personal. As a result of home prices more than doubling, insane commutes & high rents coupled with sky high 3% property tax annually I am actively preparing to leave the state for Oklahoma after my wife completes her PhD next year. For example 7 years ago in my town of Flower Mound similar to Frisco but without highways & major employers a house could be had for $150k not new but older & needing some updates. Now a dilapidated home in a poor neighborhood with weak bones is $350k. So with property tax & insurance & maintenance that’s $3000 a month for an area that takes an hour and a half each way during traffic to reach either major city. 7 years ago health insurance for a couple was $250 now it’s close to a thousand for a bronze plan on Obamacare with no subsidy if you’re in the donut hole like us. So $4000 a month for both in far north DFW suburb. In OKC or Tulsa you get both for $800. $750 for a brand new home from builder & lots of upgrades in good neighborhood & location. $80 for state SoonerCare Health insurance for two people or a Christian sharing plan for $400. Its night & day cost difference for overall cost of living only 3 hours between & a better slower pace of live. And salaries aren’t that much less or different either. Also 60% of my real estate hard asset fund is invested in Oklahoma so I may be biased. Good place to live & reach financial goals!

3 Reply

Jim K.

Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes

Originally posted by @Isaac S.:

@Jim K

LOL...ah yes, the age old "number of angels that can dance on a pin?" question....well, allow me to pontificate further....

LOL...Alexander standing over Diogenes the Cynic lounging in the Athenian Agora.

Alexander:"I am the most powerful emperor in the known world and I will give you anything you want!"
Diogenes: "Could you stand aside a bit and stop blocking my light?"

2 Reply

Danny Hubbard

Macon, GA · Member since 2015 · 29 posts · 15 votes

1. I have a problem with gentrification, but also understand that for most people money is the end game.

2. I personally don' t price people out because the community I invest in still has almost everybody I ever known before I joined the military.

3. I would only displace active drug dealers, because my family still live around the area.

4. I would feel bad about gentrifying a community, because you systematically eliminate people that are no longer deemed worthy to stay somewhere that they were maybe forced to live in the beginning.

5. One alternative is to care and understand the needs of the people in the community you are buying into. being a member of the community I understand the needs and the struggles of those I may rent to, its easy to view tenants as only dollar signs if you are not actually apart of the community.

5 Reply

Matt Millard

Lewisville, TX · Member since 2015 · 341 posts · 264 votes

Finally I will say that I might have considered staying in DFW if it was a similar place as where my parents settled in the late 80’s & started a business & raised a family. It’s now a blue state & been completely taken over by Californians & the property tax issue has been doubled down on with more stupidity & incompetence than ever before. I used to like Texas & say I was proud to be from here. Now I’m embarrassed. I now identify as an Oklahoman, the last strong red state in the union.

2 Reply

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