The National Community Reinvestment Coalition – a network of organizations and individuals dedicated to solving America’s persistent racial and socioeconomic wealth, income, and opportunity disparities – has published a new report documenting 50 years of neighborhood change across U.S. cities, revealing the significant negative impacts of gentrification on Black Americans.
During the 1970s, the Census Bureau estimated 246 cities throughout the country had indications of gentrification. By 2010, this number rose to 1,807 cities. This sevenfold increase is largely due to inadequate housing supply and declining affordability. In total, the report authors estimate that 4,070 census tracts had evidence of gentrification at some point over the past 50 years, equating to 15 percent of downtown census tracts nationally.
Since 1980, an estimated 261,000 fewer Black Americans live in gentrifying neighborhoods that were previously majority-Black. Across all gentrified neighborhoods, the study authors estimate some 500,000 Black Americans have been displaced because of gentrification. Over the same time period, 523 majority-Black neighborhoods were impacted by gentrification. A third of these communities underwent full racial turnover, while a quarter are now diverse, racially mixed neighborhoods.
In the 2010s, the five most gentrified cities in the country were Nashville, Tennessee; Washington, D.C.; the San Fransisco Bay area; Denver, Colorado; and Austin, Texas. Among the country’s largest metro areas, certain regions experienced sharp declines in their share of majority-Black neighborhoods. In 1980, the Los Angeles metro area had 24 neighborhoods with primarily Black residents. By 2020, that decreased by 92 percent to just two primarily-Black communities. The Washington, D.C. region also experienced a significant decline in Black neighborhoods, falling 84 percent from 55 neighborhoods in 1980 to only nine majority-Black communities in 2020.
“Displacement is the outcome of the loss of housing affordability, with some city planners and developers balancing the economics of profitable construction with the viability of constructing affordable housing,” the authors write. “However, maximizing profitability inevitably wins in this equation and the economics fail to fulfill the needs of low and moderate-income households.”
They continue, “City planners, developers and policymakers must actively balance economic interests with the needs of low and moderate-income households. Ensuring genuine community engagement in the planning and assessment processes of revitalization efforts is essential to mitigate the worst impacts of gentrification. Without these measures, gentrification risks deepening inequality, displacing vulnerable communities, and erasing the cultural and historical fabric of neighborhoods.”
As part of their research, the study authors have launched an interactive map detailing population shifts at the neighborhood level in areas throughout the United States.
This research is so important. Thank you for sharing this.