Priced Out: 15 Years of Gentrification in Portland, Oregon

In the late 1990s, Nikki Williams, a single mother living in Portland’s only “ghetto,” embraced the idea of gentrification. At that time, her neighborhood was dominated by abandoned buildings and the fear of drug dealers. Fifteen years later, Nikki was one of the last black residents on her block, as high-end restaurants and throngs of young newcomers came to dominate the area. While some black residents said good riddance to the old neighborhood, others felt betrayed by city officials who promised revitalization without displacement. As gentrification grew beyond Nikki’s neighborhood and plunged the entire city into a housing crisis, Nikki found herself torn between feelings of grief about the loss of her community and the opportunity to sell her home and achieve economic freedom for the first time in her life.