Gentrification and Fair Housing: Does Gentrification Further Integration? (original) (raw)
Related papers
Cityscape, 1999
The year 1998 marks the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Fair Housing Act, the last major civil rights law passed during the 1960s. It is also the 30th anniversary of the publication of the Kerner Report (Kerner Commission, 1998) on the violence that erupted in our cities in the same decade. In my mind the two are closely linked because residential segregation so dramatically embodies the Report's most famous words: "This is our basic conclusion: Our Nation is moving toward two societies, one Black, one White-separate and unequal." More than anything else, I would like to be able to argue that the past 30 years have proved these words false. Some have claimed them to be false saying that the Kerner Commission "traumatized by the riots ... had deluded themselves into thinking that the conditions of African-Americans in the United States had been deteriorating rather than improving since World War II." (Thernstrom and Thernstrom, 1997). Recognizing the progress that has been made is important, and this progress cannot be denied. But emphasizing progress while minimizing the importance of the slow speed of the progress and the remaining resistance to it (Thernstrom and Thernstrom, 1997) serves only to make people feel better. Refusing to think about the remaining problems does nothing to solve them. The first part of this article presents evidence of how segregation has changed since the Kerner Report was published and the Fair Housing Act was passed while the second reflects on the effectiveness of the law itself. In the third section I discuss post-1968 changes in society, as well as changes in the nature of housing discrimination that alter the context in which future gains in neighborhood integration will have to take place. In this section, I also report some of my current research on all-White neighborhoods, which challenges the reliance solely on segregation indices as the measure of progress toward an integrated society. Though the accuracy of the segregation indices is not in doubt, they represent only one aspect of a complex picture. The article concludes with some reflections on what present trends and the past 30 years of history mean for the future of housing policy and neighborhood integration in the United States. 1
The Effects of Change in Racial Composition on the Gentrification of Urban Neighborhoods
This study attempts to verify how the change in the ethnic make-up of an urban neighborhood effects its likelihood of being gentrified. Specifically, it examines if increase in white or Asian populations raises the real estate value of the neighborhood. Similar studies have been held previously for Chicago and Seattle. In this study, I have applied the theory to New York City, which showed similar conclusive results where increase in white or Asian correlated with increase in median sales price per unit, and increase in black or Hispanic population correlated with decrease in price. Preliminary results showed that Asians and Hispanics have the strongest positive and negative correlations respectively. Integrating these results with data on multilateral racial displacement, new interpretations show how new middle-class Asian immigrants act as racial liaisons for middle-class whites to move into predominantly black or Hispanic working-class neighborhoods, engendering gentrification; and how the concentration of Hispanic population deter the possibility of gentrification more so than blacks.
The Gentrification Trigger: Autonomy, Mobility, and Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing
Brooklyn law review, 2013
Gentrification connotes a process where often white “outsiders” move into areas in which once attractive properties have deteriorated due to disinvestment. Gentrification creates seemingly positive outcomes, including increases in property values, equity, and a city’s tax base, as well as greater residential racial and economic integration; yet it is typically accompanied by significant opposition. In-place residents fear that they will either be displaced or even if they remain the newcomers will change the culture and practices of the neighborhood. Gentrification then is understood to cause a loss of community and autonomy – losses that have been well recognized in the eminent domain literature. This article focuses on gentrifying neighborhoods that were abandoned during the government sponsored suburban migration of the 1950s through the 1980s. Racially discriminatory practices of government and private actors often denied Black and Latino families the option either to join the m...
Gentrifiers of Color: Class Inequalities in Ethnic/Racial Neighborhood Displacement
Journal of the American Planning, 2023
Problem, research strategy, and findings: Gentrification is often described as affluent White populations revitalizing deteriorating neighborhoods and displacing lower-income ethnic/racial residents. However, there is limited research on gentrification led by middle-and upper-class ethnic/racial minorities, which I propose calling gentrification of color. I reviewed 46 qualitative and quantitative studies on gentrification of color in U.S. cities from 1960 to 2021 and found a range of phenomena in terms of ethnicity/race, profiles, locations, preceding policies, and consequences of gentrification of color. These studies highlighted both solidarity and tensions within the same ethnic/racial groups as a result of gentrification. Gentrification of color presents both challenges and opportunities for minorities' cultural inclusion. In addition, my study emphasized the role of policies enabling gentrification of color and the lack of affordable housing policies to address its consequences. The findings can encourage urban planners, policymakers, and scholars to adopt a policy approach that acknowledges the complex intersectionality of race/ethnicity and class. Takeaway for practice: I urge urban planners and policymakers to incorporate the intersectionality of race/ethnicity and class into their approach to gentrification. On one hand, it is important for urban planners to collaborate with gentrifiers of color to foster culturally inclusive urban development. However, it is equally crucial for urban planners to acknowledge that issues such as displacement of lower-income individuals, intra-ethnic class disparities, and conflicting interests may be concealed under the notion of ethnic solidarity. Therefore, urban planning experts and policymakers should prioritize policies that support economically disadvantaged residents, such as affordable housing, while actively seeking their input and perspectives in municipal decision-making processes.
Racialization and Subsidized Low-Income Housing in American Cities
Journal of Poverty, 2018
Historically, the racialization of minority groups' housing needs shaped policy decisions and provoked the unequal distribution of subsidized low-income housing across American neighborhoods and cities. This study extends beyond the Black-White dichotomy in the literature to examine variations in cities' availability of all federally subsidized low-income housing units (public housing, multifamily, and Housing Choice Voucher) according to which racial group (White, Black, Latinx, and Asian) constitutes the majority population. The results of quantile regression analyses indicated that majority-Black cities possess considerably more subsidized housing units than other cities whereas majority-Asian and majority-Latinx cities experienced reduced access to the housing units.
“Race and Housing Values: What Happens When Whites Don't All Move Out?”
City & Community, 2018
Previous research on neighborhood racial composition and housing values has demonstrated that as the proportion of Black residents in a neighborhood increases housing values lag. In this paper, we investigate whether there are neighborhood types or locations where racial diversity does not have a negative impact on housing values. This research contributes to the study of residential segregation by focusing on stable integrated neighborhoods. Using metropolitan Philadelphia as a strategic case, we compare stable, integrated neighborhoods to racially transitioning neighborhoods and predominantly White and Black neighborhoods. To do this, we comparatively examine housing prices and rates of home value appreciation from 1990 to 2005. We find that stable integrated neighborhoods have rates of appreciation slightly higher than predominantly White neighborhoods.
Neighborhood change and the city of New York's ten‐year housing plan
Housing Policy Debate, 1999
This article examines neighborhood changes associated with New York City's Ten-Year Plan-the largest municipal housing program in the United States. We examine indicators of change, in the context of two possible hypotheses about the program's impact: (1) neighborhood revitalization, including improved physical and housing market conditions, as well as gentrification, and (2) the concentration of poor and welfare-dependent households, as well as the possibility of residential segregation by race or ethnicity.
The Enduring Significance of Race in Mixed-Income Developments
While public housing reforms seek to address poverty among what is a predominantly African-American population, there has been little explicit attention given to the signance of race in the formation of new mixed-income communities. Indeed, the policy framing of these efforts has focused on economic integration and has been essentially silent about racial integration. In this article, we examine whether and how race remains relevant to the everyday life and experiences of residents in mixed-income developments. Drawing on a multiyear research study of three mixed-income developments in Chicago, we examine the nature of interracial and intraracial social dynamics within these (still) predominantly African-American neighborhoods. Consistent with critical race theory, we find that institutionalized notions of "ghetto culture" continue to inhere in the attitudes of many higher-income, nonblack homeowners and professionals in these contexts, and that the relative privilege and power these groups have to establish and enforce norms, policies, and rules generate and reproduce inequality fundamentally grounded in race. Consistent with secondary marginalization theory, we also find that the increasing economic diversity and widening cleavages among blacks living in these contexts generate complex intraracial social dynamics