Gentrification - the process where the rich and their ways of living take over an area displacing poorer residents - has become a major urban living problem. There might be several lists on the internet that shows Los Angeles and San Francisco top when it comes to gentrified neighborhoods. But now, you can find out for yourself if your neighborhood is gentrified and how much.
Curbed has come up with this hilarious score card quiz where it enlists several factors that indicate towards gentrification. All you have to do is compare your city to the factors in the list and add up the points each factor carries to find out how gentrified your neighborhood is.
For example, here are a few factors from the list.
- Lost Cat Flyers clearly made by art students : 3 points
- Church Converted to club/bar/hotel : 8 points
- Brunch Spot acclaimed for its toast: 8 points
- Coffee Shop selling 12 ounces of beans for $16: 8 points; Add 4 points if it roasts its own beans.
These are just a few of the enlisted factors. You check the factors that relates most with your city and "If you score 10 points or more, your neighborhood is gentrified enough for the New York Times to have heard about it," Curbed says.
Curbed draws its inspiration from a 1985 San Francisco Chronicle quiz that predicted if "your neighborhood has become upscale."
This 1985 @sfchronicle gentrification quiz tells you if "your neighborhood [has] become 'upscale" pic.twitter.com/ltoGXTxiKv
— Devin McCutchen (@DevinMcCutchen) August 14, 2014
Gentrification has driven up cost of living in several areas of America and the more creative minds are using ingenious ways to address the issue. Earlier this year, a photo essay by Scot Hampton, a San Francisco-based photographer, underscored the rising rents in the "Frisco" through satire.
The others are trying to help the displaced through more thoughtful ways. Lava Mae, a non-profit organization, converted a public transit bus into mobile bathroom. The bus has two large shower areas, clean toilets and also gives free shampoo, soaps and towels to those who cannot afford a roof over their heads, let alone a bathroom.
Read more on gentrification and how to avoid it here. Also see the top ten snobbiest cities of the U.S. here.
