Sometimes a rising tide drowns those under the bridge...

Ray Murphy has a thoughtful and difficult post over on YoungPhillyPolitics, in which a potential downside to gentrification is pointed out: increasing defensiveness of incoming upper-income residents against mixed use development, and the possibility that tolerance for diversity in population and values will decline. Of course, the original/former West Philly residents may look particularly noble in the golden light of nostalgia, but it's certainly true that high-end developers, at least, aren't always the most civic-minded nurturers of community.