OTR Diversity(?)

This semester I'm taking a class called Writing for Social Change, which is centered on the Cincinnati community of Over the Rhine. For those of you who don't know, OTR is a low-income area that is commonly viewed as dangerous and shady, and is currently undergoing some rejuvenation. There are two main voices in the fight for OTR: developers who want to gentrify the area, and community groups that want assistance for the low-income people who already live there.

I'm writing a paper on this issue right now, but I wanted to point something out here that didn't really fit into the paper. The gentrification party is full of nasty tricks. For example:


http://www.3cdc.org/

The slideshow on 3cdc.org features many pictures like this. They say they promote diversity and want an area full of mixed income people, but here's my question: Where is the diversity here? Everyone is white and looks upper-middle class.

And this is not the only website. There are plenty of websites out there that paint OTR as trendy and chic, a great place to reside if you want to be in the center of a artsy, cultural boom. I don't think these people have ever even been to OTR. It could be a great place, yes, but I don't want it to become so at the expense of those who are already living there. Why can't we fix up the area for those who already call it home, rather than for a new population?