According to Colin Fogarty, “Gentrification often is followed by increased

property values, but also the displacement of poorer residents who can no longer

afford their houses. Gentrification also pushes out racial and ethnic minorities.”

Fogarty had also researched that according to governing.com, race and ethnic data

for two census tracts differ. In one census tract, the black population declined, but

in another, it increased and it’s the same results when it comes to Hispanic and

Latino populations.

Senators, for the following reasons I give you today I urge you to vote in

negation/affirmation of Senator __________________’s legislation for the

following two reasons: one, the major cost of gentrification, and two, a larger

divide between the rich and the poor.

Firstly, Senators, the major cost of gentrification. According to realter.com,

Charleston, South Carolina is a perfect example with the city’s median home price

rising 77.5% from $152 thousand and 1 hundred in 2000 to $270 thousand in 2015.

The amount of gentrification that was realized in the area of Charleston was

62.5%. The tearing-down of old apartment structures and the building of new

single-family homes became a familiar experience for residents living in the area.

Going back to Colin Fogarty, college education in Virginia Beach areas such as
Oceana has increased as did the median home value. In the Oceana neighborhood,

the index home price was $153,000 in 2012; in 2018, the index home price rose to

$184,000. Business Insider uses Washington, District of Columbia as an example

by saying, The cost of buying a house doubled between 2002 and 2007. At the

same time, rents rose by over a third, and between 2007 and 2010, it increased by

an additional 16 percent. As housing costs have risen, the District of Columbia has

also lost rental units. The District of Columbia’s Fiscal Policy Institute estimates

that 8,000 rental units were lost between 2000 and 2007. Many of these apartments

for rent, including some under rent control, that have been converted to high-end

condos. These luxury units are inaccessible to low and middle-income families,

even those who hope to purchase a home rather than continue renting.

Secondly, Senators, a larger divide between the rich and the poor. In two studies

covered by USA Today, it was revealed that the poor from these neighborhoods

move out at most 0.5% more frequently than from non-gentrifying poor

neighborhoods. According to the Virginia Pilot, Foxhill, Virginia, have a total of

544 homes that are being threatened with demolition Gentrification, their plans

result in a loss of 241 social homes. According to The Guardian, owners will be

forced to be out of the city and village-type estates will be replaced with

supermarket homes at top market prices is creating anxiety and illness for those
who need to afford a home, but can't. Gentrification will create a divide, a larger

divide than ever before between the rich and the poor.

According to the New York Times, millions of people go through this every year,

they are forced to leave their homes because they cannot afford it anymore. A man

named Ethan Connell, a resident in the South Beach Area of Virginia stated, “It

seems like every week there is a house being torn down and a new complex being

built. It’s fairly common down here,” Connell later mentions that he wishes for

older homes to be maintained. Senators, homes, and culture will disappear in an

instant due to gentrifying… we cannot allow that…

Which is why for the following reasons I give you today I urge you to vote in

negation/affirmation of Senator __________________’s legislation for the

following two reasons: one, the major cost of gentrification, and two, a larger

divide between the rich and the poor.

Thank you.