The Interdependence Among Gentrifying Neighborhoods: Central Denver Since 1970

Gentrification is an intrinsic dimension of cyclical change in large cities. Stage theories define the process to be autonomous and sequentially predetermined. Yet the phenomenon is seldom confined to just one or two neighborhoods in single cities, and significant interactions occur among those experiencing parallel gentrification during any episode of urban economic recovery. An examination of neighborhoods having moderate or high potential for gentrification in Denver since the early 1970s reveals two aspects of interdependence One entails spillovers arising from the competition for gentrifiers and reinvestment capital, and the transfer of expectations as well as strategies for development and resistance. Another stems from the overall scale of residential reinvestment within the city and the resulting improvement in public services, lessening of risk, and reduction in unit production costs of larger scale rehabilitators. It is therefore preferable to reposition the study of gentrification within the encompassing dynamic of the city and its region.