It's not politically incorrect to say. Gentrification is good. I've seen it work in Baltimore in the early naughts and I've seen it work here in Philly.

The problems we're dealing with go back 40-50 years. White flight took the rug out from many neighborhoods by removing the tax base and leaving behind only the people who could not afford to move. Of course the problems from that accumulated and showed up as decaying neighborhoods, failing schools, and all kinds of problems.

Gentrification, in a way, REPLACES the people who left during white flight. It's very much a way to restore economic balance to a community. Can it go too far? Yes, but we're a long way from reaching NYC levels of gentrification. We need more educated people, more wealth, and less dysfunction.