Gentrification Game (for a class of 35)
Goal: To demonstrate the processes of gentrification.
Materials
1
Set of playing cards
1
Set of Poker Chips
4
6-sided dice
Chalk/marker board, chalk/markers
Setup
In the class period before you run the simulation, have each student draw a playing card from a deck that has cards 2, 3,
4, 5, and 6 removed from the spades and cards 2, 3, 4 and 5 removed from the clubs, hearts, and diamonds. Do not
have the students replace the cards before the next student draws. Record what each student drew. This will indicate
what neighborhood the student lives in, how much money the student has to start with, and whether the student rents
or owns, and has insurance.
Assign your students the following values based on the cards they drew.
Neighborhood 1
Neighborhood 2
(Clubs)
(Diamonds)
6 $300, Rents, No*
6 $300, Rents, No
7 $350, Rents, No
7 $350, Rents, No
8 $400, Rents, Ins.
8 $400, Rents, No
9 $450, Rents, No
9 $450, Rents, No
10 $500, Rents, No
10 $500, Rents, Ins.
J $550, Owns, Ins.
J $550, Rents, No
Q $600, Rents, No
Q $600, Owns, Ins.
K $650, Owns, No
K $650, Rents, Ins.
A $700, Rents, Ins.
A $700, Owns, No
*Ins.= Insured, No= Not Insured
Neighborhood 3
(Hearts)
6 $900, Rents, Ins.
7 $1,050, Rents, Ins.
8 $1,200, Owns, Ins.
9 $1,350, Rents, Ins.
10 $1,500, Owns, Ins.
J $1,650, Rents, Ins.
Q $1,800, Owns, Ins.
K $1,950, Rents, Ins.
A $2,100, Rents, Ins.
Neighborhood 4
(Spades)
7 $2,800, Owns, Ins.
8 $3,200, Owns, Ins.
9 $3,600, Owns, Ins.
10 $4,000, Owns, Ins.
J $4,400, Owns, Ins.
Q $4,800, Owns, Ins.
K $5,200, Owns, Ins.
A $5,600, Owns, Ins.
Before class, divvy up your student’s money using the poker chips, then label each pile to minimize set up time in class.
Use different colors of chips to represent different denominations (i.e., Black= $1,000, Green= $500, Blue=$100, Red and
White= $50). Make sure each student has at least 2 tokens representing $50.
At the beginning of class, divide the board into the 4 neighborhoods. Write the students’ names and whether they rent,
own, and have insurance in the appropriate neighborhood. Write the values of each color of poker chip on the board.
Also write the following information by each neighborhood’s name:
Neighborhood 1: Rent= $300, Mortgage= $500
Neighborhood 2: Rent= $300, Mortgage= $500
Neighborhood 3: Rent= $600, Mortgage= $900
Neighborhood 4: Mortgage= $2,000
Give your students their piles of “money” as they arrive, and have them sit with in rough neighborhood clusters. Give a
dice or two to the students in Neighborhoods 1 and 2.
If you have several students skip, rearrange as necessary. It’s better to have more students in Neighborhoods 3 and 4
than in Neighborhoods 1 and 2. If you take students out of Neighborhoods 1 and 2, take them from the middle of the
distribution (not the poorest nor the richest).
Game Play
Explain to the students that the classroom represents a city with four neighborhoods. Neighborhoods 1 and 2 represent
poorer neighborhoods with dilapidated housing. Neighborhood 3 is a stable middle-class neighborhood, while
Neighborhood 4 is an affluent neighborhood. Residents in each neighborhood experience different life outcomes.
Residents of Neighborhoods 1 and 2 are susceptible to crime and disasters, like arsons. Residents of Neighborhoods 3
and 4 are safe. If wealthier people move into Neighborhoods 1 and 2, the values of the houses will go up, and the
experience of living there will improve. If enough people move out of Neighborhood 3, the values of houses will go
down, and social ills will begin to creep in. Because Neighborhood 4 is so affluent, it will always remain stable,
regardless of how many people move out (assume that it will always refill with outsiders).
Tell your students that the goal of the game is to make the most money through gentrification. Buying into a poor
neighborhood early will give students the most opportunity for profit, as the value of the housing will go up as students
buy into the neighborhood. However, the risks are also highest for earlier adopters, so there’s no guarantee that
moving early will be a winning strategy. Tell them that they cannot make alliances to gentrify one neighborhood over
another (the game does not hold up under such manipulation).
Choose a student in Neighborhood 4 to go first. Ask the student if they want to move or stay. If they want to stay in
Neighborhood 4, their turn is over. If they want to move to a different neighborhood, move their name to the
appropriate neighborhood and circle it (this allows you to count gentrifiers). Assume that they own and that they have
insurance. Have them physically move to their new neighborhood. If they’ve moved to Neighborhood 1 or 2, have them
roll the dice to determine their outcome (listed below). The outcomes vary based on the number of gentrifiers in the
neighborhood. Give or take money (poker chips) from the students in the new neighborhood as necessary.
Move on to the next student in Neighborhood 4, and repeat. After all the students in Neighborhood 4 have gone, move
on to Neighborhood 3 and repeat. If a student from Neighborhood 3 moves to Neighborhood 4, place a star beside that
student’s name. The student’s turn is then over. Otherwise, follow the same rules as with students in Neighborhood 4.
If a student loses the game early, ask them to be a banker. It speeds things up. A second losing student could manage
the board.
Students in Neighborhoods 1 and 2 usually do not have enough money to move (they have to be able to afford rent or a
mortgage in the new neighborhood). If they do, ask if they’d like to stay or move. If they move up to Neighborhood 3,
place a star beside their name. Otherwise, just have them roll the dice to determine their neighborhood experiences.
After all the students originally living in Neighborhoods 1 and 2 have had turns (skip the gentrifiers that have moved in
during the round), return to Neighborhood 4 and repeat.
Keep track of the number of gentrifiers in each neighborhood. As the number of gentrifiers increases, the value of the
housing goes up and the outcomes from the dice rolls improve. Likewise, keep track of the number of people leaving
Neighborhood 3. Initially, Neighborhood 3 is stable. After 4 residents leave (or are replaced by residents originally living
in Neighborhoods 1 and 2), the remaining residents have to start rolling the dice because the neighborhood has
declined. Occasionally check to make sure all of the students can still afford their rent/mortgages. If they can’t, ask if
they’d like to switch to renting (if an owner) or if they’d like to move to a new neighborhood. If they can’t afford that,
they become homeless and lose the game.
Play the game until the poor neighborhoods have completely turned over, or until you’ve run out of time. Leave time at
the end of class to discuss how the simulation played out. The game should progress so that some of the students move
to the poor neighborhood, some are displaced, and some play it safe by staying in the stable neighborhood. Sometimes,
the earliest gentrifiers also get priced out. There are usually different outcomes in Neighborhoods 1 and 2, just by how
the dice fall.
OUTCOMES FOR ROLLS OF THE DICE
Neighborhoods 1 and 2
With 0-2 Gentrifiers
1= Arson of your house (roll for death…evens die, odds live…if live, get new home)
2= Robbery rates increase by 5% (those with insurance lose $50)
3= Triple homicide makes news (Homeowners lose $50)
4= You are assaulted and robbed on the street (You lose $50)
5= Your car is stolen (You lose $50)
6=The neighborhood gets a new restaurant (Homeowners get $50).
With 3-5 Gentrifiers
Rents go up to $350
Renters without that much wiggle-room become homeless or move to different neighborhood
Mortgages/taxes go up to $600
Homeowners without that much money become renters or have to move to a different neighborhood
Buy-in amount goes up to $700
1=Arson of vacant house (Those with insurance lose $50).
2= Robbery rates increase by 5% (Those with insurance lose $50)
3=Your car is stolen (You lose $50)
4= New business opens, makes news (Homeowners get $50)
5= Community festival draws positive attention to neighborhood (Homeowners get $50)
6= New business opens, gets robbed (No effect)
With 6-7 Gentrifiers
Rents go up to $450
Renters without that much money move to another neighborhood or become homeless
Mortgage/taxes go up to $800
Owners without that much money become renters or have to move to a different neighborhood
Buy-in amount goes up to $1,100
1=Your car is stolen (You lose $50)
2= You get robbed/assaulted (You lose $50)
3= New business opens, makes news (Homeowners get $50)
4= Community festival continues to grow, makes news (Homeowners get $50)
5= New business opens, gets robbed (no effect)
6= Gentrification efforts draw national attention (Homeowners get $50)
With 8+ Gentrifiers
Rents go up to $650
Renters without that much money move to another neighborhood or become homeless
Mortgages/Taxes go up to $900
Owners without that much money become renters or have to move to a different neighborhood
Risk has diminished to that of non-gentrifying neighborhoods, dice rolls are no longer necessary.
Neighborhood 3
With 4-6 Vacancies or new poorer residents
Rents drop to $550
Mortgage values fall to $800
1= Graffiti on neighbor’s house (those with insurance lose $50)
2= Robbery rates increase by 5% (Homeowners lose $50)
3= Your car is stolen (You lose $50)
4= Tires slashed on all neighborhood vehicles (Everybody loses $50)
5= Community festival draws positive attention to neighborhood (Homeowners get $50)
6= Rumors of gang activity flourish (No effect)
With 7+ vacancies or new poorer residents
Rents drop to $450
Mortgage values fall to $700
1= Arson of vacant house (those with insurance lose $50
2= Robbery rates increase by 5% (Homeowners lose $50)
3= Graffiti on your house (You lose $50)
4= You are assaulted and robbed on the street (You lose $50)
5= Your car is stolen (You lose $50)
6=The neighborhood gets a new McDonalds (Homeowners get $50).