Even Young Professionals Finding Housing Costs Too High in Gentrified Neighborhoods

After many years of implementing policies to woo young professionals, some cities are now too expensive for that demographic. Post-gentrification, urban neighborhoods have seen housing costs skyrocket over the past few years, making it hard for even those with good paying jobs to find an affordable place to live.

In Washington, D.C., a 39-year-old civil rights attorney filed a lawsuit against the city charging that it changed zoning laws to allow for the construction of a glut of studio and one-bedroom apartments and condominiums, thereby purposefully gentrifying its neighborhoods. The result of this policy has been high rents, resident displacement, and a gutting of the character of cities, the lawyer and other critics say.

Other observers say there are signs of a leveling off of prices and that a housing market correction is inevitable.

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