US News, August 24, 2023, A Gentrified Dallas Neighborhood Faces An Uncertain Future
This is Oak Cliff, a vibrant pocket of Dallas, one of many minority-majority cities in the US. As Texas has become more diverse in the last few decades, so has this patch of the city, in which Hispanics (63%) and non-Hispanic Black people (7%) now make up a significant portion of the population, according to 2021 Census Bureau estimate
Like many urban areas across the country, Oak Cliff – covering a wide swath of the city about the size of Seattle – was born from a tangled history of discriminatory housing practices, socioeconomic disparities and immigration. The South Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago underwent similar demographic shifts – as did Ferguson, Missouri and Dover, New Jersey.
A report from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition shows Dallas was among a list of 20 of the most intensely gentrifying cities from 2013-2017, the top three being San Francisco, Denver and Boston.
The change has forced many residents to make painful decisions about whether to stay in the only place they’ve ever called home, or to pack up and start a new life somewhere more affordable.
