Signs of transformation in Seattle's south end

Reagan Jackson has a front row seat to the gentrification of south Seattle. When she went looking in Rainier Beach for real estate seven years ago, she was surprised she could actually afford to buy a house. But now she says she might have to leave. And it’s all because of her new neighbors.

"When I first bought the house, the neighborhood was predominately people of color — Cambodian, Filipino, African-American, East African, Somali," Jackson told KUOW. "But over the past couple of years I've just watched the neighborhood flip."

We all know the history of redlining in south Seattle communities. Neighborhoods that used to be mostly people of color are now mostly white.

If you drive by Jackson’s house in Rainier Beach, you’ll see signs on her lawn. They say “Gentrification Ground Zero,” and “This House is Not For Sale.” She wants the signs to speak for themselves, but has opened up about her own perspective in a South Seattle Emerald article called "The Displacement Tax: an Update from Gentrification Ground Zero."

"I don't hate my neighbors," Jackson said. "I don't think that they're bad people. [But] we've seen it happen in other communities. And this is how it is beginning in Rainier Beach."

The lawn signs have become a big topic of conversation and new homeowners were wary of Jackson. But some of her neighbors, who happen to be white, are trying to understand what she means by the signs.

"In the south, people are so much more overt in their racial prejudice," Jackson said. "So at least I know I'm living next to people who care enough to think about it."

Jackson has no plans to leave Rainier Beach. Even as her property taxes increase and the costs of owning a house go up, Jackson says renting is not an obvious option.

“I just think that housing should be a basic human right," she said. "It shouldn't be this hard.”

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