Gentrification and the Church.

I'm a part of a church in East Nashville, an area of town that is going through re-gentrification-- it used to be a wealthy area of town, then became the "bad part of town," and now going through a renewal, including soaring house prices (Some friends that are moving recently put up their house for sale at $329,000. It probably would have gone for less than $100,000 five years ago).

My church is here to care for East Nashville, including its residents who live below the poverty line. Economic diversity in our church is a goal, where the rich and poor worship and serve together side-by-side. However, many of the poor are being pushed out of this part of town because of rising property values. I learned a lot from an article in ByFaith Magazine titled "Gentrification With Justice," which is worth reading if you live in a city and would like to think through some of these issues.

My wife is going to take a course from the Chalmers Center For Economic Development this coming January to learn more. By the way, my wife is wicked smart.