Changing Neighborhoods, Changing Families: Gentrification and the Emergence of Gay Parents in Washington Heights, NYC

Gentrification has been taking place all across New York City at various degrees and affecting communities at various levels. This paper explores how location matters and how some gentrifiers fall into the camp of social preservationist – those seeking to mix the old and the new with a desire to retain the cultural and historical identification of a neighborhood. A subset of this group is gay families wishing to raise a family in this diverse environment. Through interviews with various constituencies of Washington Heights in Northern Manhattan, the paper examines a specific slice of gentrification focusing on social preservation versus neoliberal capitalist forces that affect gentrification in other neighborhoods of New York City. The research shows that location matters and that economic forces draw gay families looking for more space but that networks of support and signifiers of acceptance encourage them to stay