The True Origins of Gentrification

​It's time for a multiple choice quiz. Gentrification started:

a) in the 1980s
b) in the 1950s
c) when CBGB's closed
​​d​​)​ ​the price of a slice began heading north of $1

The answer, according to WNYC senior editor Matthew Schuerman's  "Newcomers: Gentrification and Its Discontents," is the 1950s. 

In his new book, Schuerman traces the history of the phenomenon back to young, well-intentioned professionals in Brooklyn Heights, who chose to buck the trend of moving out to the suburbs.

"They saw themselves as counter-cultural people," he said. "Instead of endorsing urban renewal, they were against urban renewal and they tried something else, which was renovating these old buildings and living in them." 

He says it's just one example of how the true story of gentrification defies the familiar narrative that is usually told. 

Listen to Schuerman's conversation with WNYC host Jami Floyd.