gentrify

[ jen-truh-fahy ]

verb (used with object),gen·tri·fied, gen·tri·fy·ing.

to alter (a deteriorated urban neighborhood) through the buying and renovation of houses and stores by upper- or middle-income families or individuals, raising property values but often displacing low-income families and small businesses.
to conform to an upper- or middle-class lifestyle; make appealing to those with more affluent tastes: Fish and chips have been gentrified.

verb (used without object),gen·tri·fied, gen·tri·fy·ing.

to undergo this type of change: Some neighborhoods gentrify more quickly than others.

Origin of gentrify

First recorded in 1970–75; gentry + -fy

Activists and local politicians regularly excoriated the tech class for gentrifying neighborhoods and pricing out longtime residents.
Miami’s tech boom started with a tweet but is sustained by more than hype | Nicolás Rivero | December 4, 2021 | Quartz
Near the start of the pandemic, in a gentrifying neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah, visitors from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arrived at Danielle Bellamy’s doorstep.
Utah Makes Welfare So Hard to Get, Some Feel They Must Join the LDS Church to Get Aid | by Eli Hager, photography by Kim Raff for ProPublica | December 2, 2021 | ProPublica
To the extent the success of the socialist left is in part tied to gentrifying neighborhoods, it remains to be seen how that will impact a citywide race.
What We’re Watching In The New York City Mayoral Race | Alex Samuels (Alex.L.Samuels@disney.com) | March 16, 2021 | FiveThirtyEight
New restaurant owners entering gentrifying areas are sometimes people of color themselves, but this doesn’t mean that they can’t be gentrifiers, Sbicca says.
The Stages of Gentrification, as Told by Restaurant Openings | Vince Dixon | September 30, 2020 | Eater
“This won’t reach low-income people, but it will reach middle-income people and that benefits gentrifying areas,” he said.
Single-Family Zoning’s Century of Supremacy in San Diego | Andrew Keatts | August 26, 2020 | Voice of San Diego

Things rapidly gentrify around those couples, and then the next round begins in a new neighborhood a couple of years later.
Is DC Real Estate Headed Up or Down? | Megan McArdle | October 23, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
Jessegate is just the latest, and I would argue inevitable, setback in the centuries-long quest to gentrify overalls.
Enough with the Overalls! | Sean Macaulay | April 7, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST

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