For Chinese immigrants, the idea of homeownership is engrained in their versions of American Dream. My parents, when we first immigrated, knew that our uncle’s house is located in an area that housing prices are on the rise. They couldn’t afford to own a house in this neighborhood even with the tremendous amount of loan that they could get from our relatives.  In the end, after 4 years in the neighborhood, prices of those houses rose around 40% on average. It was just witnessing how gentrification placed more burdens for the renters. Although there were better amenities and better infrastructures in the area, it has placed a tremendous amount of burden on renters such as my family.

On the other hand, gentrifications in an area are almost bane to homeowners looking to sell their houses. I know many people that sold houses at the peak and really were able to generate a return that would outshine what they could’ve gained just working all those years.

I could also speak to the experience as a student who went to a not so well-rounded high school in a neighborhood that was being gradually gentrified. Throughout my four years there, I saw many construction sites and more and more “hipsters” and people looking more wealthy moving into those newly built apartments with staggering rents. The municipal has tried to shut down our school altogether, it was not an entertaining perspective.