So you want to make the neighborhood better, huh?

[David Sosna]

A big dilemma we are dealing with it gentrification and what it means to us. We want to invest in our own neighborhood for many reasons. We want to be close to our houses. We love it here. We love the mix of middle class and lower income people, ethnic families, etc. That brings us to our gentrification dilemma. When we talk about buying a house and flipping it, or even just fixing it up a bit and renting it out for what seems reasonable for our business, we feel like we are pricing out the very people that give this neighborhood flavor and character. If we just buy 150-200k houses and turn them into 350-400k houses like so many others are doing around here then we'll just turn this neighborhood into something more financially valuable but culturally vacant. Are we just sappy do-gooders? Is there no money to be made for people like us who still want to provide decent living spaces for lower income people so they aren't priced out of the neighborhood? Do we just need to start some nonprofit because we are being unrealistic thinking there is a business model that fits our values? Is anyone else dealing with thinking this through or has done so?