With DC, one can still buy a house maybe not for $50k, but definitely for under $200k in an “evolving” neighborhood and likely watch it go up in value several times (assuming trends continue). I think the cause was more government workers + horrendous traffic from the burbs + cities being cool again from the ‘burbs than gays and liberal elite.

DC is a special case, though, for a counterpoint. Look at Philly. Large gay/liberal population in the “right” areas, but the ghetto is still the ghetto.

Asbury Park is an old resort town on the NJ coast. It was very trendy — casinos, shows, etc, in the early 1900s. Springstein also had many of his first gigs in a bar there. It fell on hard times with cars and planes making it easier for people to vacation further away (though the rest of that part of the shore seems to have picked up, not sure why it remains an exception).

The town has sentimental value to me since one of my first childhood memories (I was 1.5 yrs old) is standing on the porch of an old hotel there and watching the 4th of July fireworks over the Atlantic.