Gentrification is a 4-letter word in Parramore - Commentary

When you hear Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and others talking about bringing high-paying high-tech jobs to Central Florida, please be aware they’re not bringing those jobs here to you.

Gentrification adds to homelessness

It’s all about driving up real-estate prices.

You watch and see the impact Dyer’s so-called Creative Village will have on Parramore, Rock Lake and other nearby neighborhoods.

Where high-tech jobs go, gentrification is sure to follow.

If you live in Parramore, or other historically black and brown communities, gentrification is a four-letter word.

Gentrification displaces people of color.

Look at the effect the high-tech gold rush has had in San Francisco.

In 1990, black people made up 12 percent of San Francisco’s population.

Today black people are 5 percent of San Francisco’s population.

Rent for a 1-room studio in a mediocre San Francisco community starts at $2,000 a month.

Consider how far a $10 an hour service industry job will take you in a gentrified city.

This is why the San Francisco Bay-area has a world-class homeless problem with thousands of people camped out in tents under highway overpasses and in warehouse districts.

Now is the time to act, not when eviction notice arrives in the mail.

This commentary was written by David D. Porter, an Orlando-based writer, who publishes http://www.32805OrlNews.com