10 Cities That Are Gentrifying The Fastest

From 2000 to 2015, the median home price in Charleston, S.C. increased 77 percent, from $152,100 to $270,000. The rise is in large part due to gentrification, where upwardly mobile college-educated buyers replaced long-time working-class residents.

Realtor.com named 10 cities that were gentifying the fastest, based on changes in home values, and residents’ income and education levels since 2000. Charleston ranked first and Asheville, N.C. came in second. Most of the remaining cities on the list are not surprises: Portland, Denver, Nashville, Washington, D.C., Austin, Texas, and Sacramento, Calif.

Gentrification, whether it truly exists or not, has its plusses and minuses. While poorer residents struggle with rising living costs (particularly renters), homeowners and business owners can take advantage of skyrocketing property values.

“It’s a trade-off,” says David Fiorenza, an urban economics professor at Villanova University. “Whole communities can be displaced, but people [also] can benefit from it, because home values and business values go up … and eventually, there will be more jobs and better schools.”

Read more