What Will Happen When Harlem Becomes White?

Harlem is gentrifying. Get off at 125th street’s A subway and walk south. As you go, you will spot luxury condominiums in between brownstones and walk-ups. If you want to, you can stop off at a designer flower store or a hat boutique. On your walk, you will almost certainly spot more than a few white, middle-class-looking faces – something that would have been inconceivable 20 years ago. Gentrification means that demographics are changing, and Harlem is getting whiter. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of black residents fell notably, and white population share grew, particularly in central Harlem where white residents increased five-fold. But when it comes to economic development, the story is much more complicated than white people moving in, black people moving out.