Gentrification:
The process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process. Oxford Dictionary via google
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has been used to describe a wide array of phenomena, usually in a pejorative connotation. Wikipedia
Also see Google Chinese translate for gentrification (not very good, in my opinion. But 绅士化 is actually the official word on Wikipedia :-). I usually translate Olivette into 橄榄村, btw.
I don’t know how you think, personally as I lived in the area (Creve Coeur, Olivette) for almost 20 years or so (since April 2005), I saw quite a bit development in the city of Olivette recently, both commercial and residential, and government as well (the city hall, police/fire station, and the new community center, Five Oaks on Warson). That pushes up the home prices in the area too (see Zillow), which has both plus and minus. Keep in mind Olivette also has one of the fastest population growth from 2010 to 2020 in the St. Louis county, per the census.
About Olivette (City of Olivette website)
History of Olivette (old PDF file from Olivette website, copied something I liked here, “diversity”, page 10):
In the late ’60s and early ’70s a fair housing commission called the “Freedom of Residence Program” helped stabilize the community. Core values such as good education for children, high housing standards and safe neighborhoods brought different ethnic and social groups together around a common cause. It is partly due to this program that Olivette today enjoys a diverse yet cohesive population.
Recent development in Olivette (my blog post written a few years ago, updated many times since then).
Also YT Video – Olivette retail center across street from USPS (中文解说）
New Apartments Developments Along Olive Road And Its Impact On The School District (more recent blog post from yours truly)
Noticed Jacob has a nice and comprehensive video introduction on YT the St. Louis city, St. Louis county, St. Charles county and Jefferson county, mostly from residential real estimate point of view. The video is 43 minutes long: in the order of St. Louis city, county, St. Charles county and Jefferson county.
PS: gentrification is a new word I learned over last few years… it has both good and bad. For example, in Frontenac they used to have a trailer park, it was developed into new homes in recent years. I read an article on the topic, and I hope the families (people) especially the kids got impacted are doing fine.
Latest newsletter from Olivette (this march 2024 issue), quote a bit here:
The 208-unit apartment complex
now known as Irvington Place,
located off of Alice Pl. between
Hilltop Dr. and N. Price Road and
the new Aldi grocery store and the
multi-tenant Lot 3 of Olive
Crossing should begin initial
construction work this spring.
Initially I was worried the builder may have backed out. I recently walked by and this is the YT shorts I got. I took a YT video last year too.
All newsletters are here.
(Update 02-26-2024)
Paris Baguette looks yummy 🙂