Gentrification in Pride by Ibn Zoboi (Essay Sample)

Gentrification is “A process in which a poor area (as of a city) experiences an influx of middle-class or wealthy people who renovate and rebuild homes and businesses and which often results in an increase in property values and the displacement of earlier, usually poorer residents.”(Merriam-Webster).Ibi Zobois Pride demonstrates that one of the most devatasticing economic impacts of gentrification is when long-time residents can no longer afford their homes. 

In the book Pride by Ibn Zoboi we see the effect that gentrification has on the main character, Zuri, when the Darcys, A wealthy family, moves into her neighborhood. For example on page 1 of Pride  it syas “It’s a truth universally acknowledged that when rich people move into the hood, where it’s a little bit broken and a little bit forgotten, the first thing they want to do is clean it up. But it’s not just the junky stuff they’ll get rid of. People can be thrown away too, like last night’s trash left out on sidewalks or pushed to the edge of wherever all broken things go.”(Ibi Zoboi) This shows how Zuri knows the effects of Gentrification on poorer neighborhoods, much like her own and she doesn't want her family and neighbors to go through it. At this point she does not agree with Gentrification because it dehomes the less wealthy people.  On page 257 of Pride, the author writes “Do you see that rent is going up all over the place and people are not getting paid more?”(Ibi Zoboi) This demonstrates the disastrous impact of gentrification as rent goes up, people don't receive higher salaries and therefor can no longer afford to pay their rent which causes them to have to leave their homes in search of new residences. In the article “Stanford professor’s study finds gentrification disproportionately affects minorities”, It says “A new study by a Stanford.