page_title: Gentrification in Philadelphia
section_title: Fairmount
hierarchical_section_title: Gentrification in Philadelphia / Neighborhoods / Fairmount
caption_attribution_description: Eastern State Penitentiary is a former Pennsylvania state prison, on Fairmount Avenue between Corinthian Avenue and North 22nd Street in the Fairmount neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA, 19130.It opened in 1829, and closed in 1971, and is a U.S. National Historic Landmark. South wall, looking east.
context_page_description: Gentrification is the improvement of a neighborhood as new, and typically more affluent, people move in.
  It is often criticized because the current residents have limited options to buy or rent equivalent housing in alternative areas at the same price. If they stay, prices for products, services, and taxes rise and existing social networks are disturbed. Gentrification is the opposite of white flight—when residents voluntarily move away as a neighborhood declines.
  In Philadelphia, various neighborhoods, each with an characteristic class and ethnic makeup, are being shaken as newcomers move in. The impact of gentrification has been felt most in a number of neighborhoods around Center City such as lower North Philadelphia, Francisville, Northern Liberties, Fishtown, Kensington, Fairmount, Center City West, Hawthorne, University City, Point Breeze and Grays Ferry.
context_section_description: Fairmount is a neighborhood a mile north of Center City. During the 19th century, Irish and German immigrants made up most of the neighborhood's population. In the early 20th century Polish and Ukrainian immigrants also began coming to Fairmount.
  The Fairmount neighborhood changed dramatically after the 1940s and 1950s. The Girard Avenue shopping area was destroyed by riots in the early 1960s, and has never been substantially developed since.  Also, the residents of Fairmount experienced the hardships of deindustrialization; factories closed and poverty and crime increased. The demographics of the area changed as many white residents moved to suburban areas, and parts of the neighborhood became predominantly African-American or Hispanic.
  The addition of upscale town homes in the 1980s and 1990s caused displacement of longtime minority residents as younger generations moved away from Fairmount when they could no longer afford to live there. The real estate boom began to draw many affluent white people back from the suburbs to neighborhoods like Fairmount. Members of the community have worked diligently to preserve and improve their surroundings. The neighborhood remains largely white, but it continues to become gentrified. Younger professional families, students, and singles are moving in.  The attraction for most is its proximity to Center City, Fairmount Park, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
caption: The Eastern State Penitentiary
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