However, specifically in the Bay Area, this topic has become an important and controversial point of discussion in politics and urban planning. The argument is that gentrification benefits incoming residents at the expense of current, and normally lower-income, residents. Increases in rent costs push those with low, fixed incomes, out of their homes, forcing them to relocate. As newer residents take over the area, they push out existing cultures that have cemented themselves there over longer periods of time. These culture-clashes increase racial and class tensions, generating resentment and community conflict.
The Bay Area attributes its character with the large tech industries that are rooted in Silicon Valley and San Francisco. Unfortunately, this means that gentrification has been increasing at an alarming rate. Tech companies are in a sense taking over many neighborhoods across the Bay Area. This has resulted in a vast displacement of lower-income residents.
It just so happens that these lower-income residents tend to be of African-American or Hispanic descent. The Bay Area prides itself on its culturally and racially diverse environment, however, these displacements have slowly been unwinding the diverse microcosms of individual districts.
The question is whether or not we should be supporting the economic growth that comes from gentrification, despite it being at the expense of lower-income residents. From the economist's point of view, the answer is yes. But from the moral and ethical standpoint of a human being, many will argue otherwise.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/08/06/bay-area-gentrification-displacing-communities-of-color/
I think that gentrification is bound to happen if a region wants to advance forward. However, the pros and cons must be heavily considered. Like you mentioned above, although tech companies have been popping up all over the bay area, renovating neighborhoods to entice people to come work cause serious problems to those who must move out. I think gentrification could be beneficial, but finding alternative solutions for those being relocated is critical, or else gentrification may be doing more harm than good.
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