Jeanette Sako Deep Dive 7 Studentification is the process of economic environmental and social change that results from large numbers of students moving to a particular area where popular colleges universities are located The actors of studentification include the developers politicians realtors and honestly anyone with power in the area of the university In theory this process may seem beneficial to students and other members of the university community but the primary goal of these actors is to make money In actual practice studentification places the needs of those who would call an area their temporary home above the needs of those who have called it home for generations An excellent exa of studentification in the Carrboro Chapel Hill area would involve the Northside neighborhoods near Rosemary street It is a historically black community negatively affected by those in power in the area As we ve discussed in class African Americans are least likely to own property in the United States this means that historically black neighborhoods are of great importance Northside gave black people in the Chapel Hill area an opportunity to raise their families own businesses and build a community It s important to note that their incomes were able to support this When wealthy realtors come into an area like this to buy property they take valuable assets from black people with the goal of renting to students and making money This changes the area socially economically and environmentally Property taxes for long term residents increase there are changes in demographics and the communities of the individuals who historically built these neighborhoods are no longer benefiting DeHoniesto 2019 Some actions taken proposed by Chapel Hill and Carrboro to mitigate the effects of studentification include Chapel Hills Neighborhoods Conservation District NCD putting forth a set of restrictions for developers and their student rental Some of these restrictions included square footage and height restrictions and resident limits Loftin 1 Sadly these restrictions were proved to be unsuccessful Another action taken was a 3 million dollar loan pledged to the Jackson Center on rosemary street in partnership with an organization called Self Help This loan was granted by UNC officials in March 2015 with the goal of combating studentification by buying and reselling properties to the right hands Having personally volunteered at the Jackson Center in 2019 and being explained the continued gentrification of the area I cannot back either of these actions of making a monumental impact As a volunteer there I ve seen the community first hand and it s very special I would agree with the Loftin article that a more effective way of keeping students and realtors out of the Northside would be to put more money into the housing that UNC offers on campus or to help fund more affordable housing off campus in areas that aren t historically important to communities Housing crisis on campus most certainly has the potential to worsen issues of gentrification in the area and we should prioritize this not only a university issue but a community issue Bibliography Wuerth Andrea The Marian Cheek Jackson Center The Marian Cheek Jackson Center 1 Aug 2019 https jacksoncenter info 2019 06 20 who are my neighbors a students role in The Selling of Northside CHALT 1 Apr 2015 https www chalt org the selling of the northside