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'Should Have Moved Somewhere Else': the Impacts of Gentrification On Final Report 1079 August 2020 Photo by Cait McCusker ‘I Should Have Moved Somewhere Else’: The Impacts of Gentrification on Transportation and Social Support for Black Working-Poor Families in Portland, Oregon Steven Howland, Ph.D. NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNITIES nitc-utc.net TECHNICAL REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No. NITC-D-1079 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date ‘I Should Have Moved Somewhere Else’: The Impacts of Gentrification on August 2020 Transportation and Social Support for Black Working-Poor Families in Portland, 6. Performing Organization Code Oregon 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Steven Anthony Howland 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning Portland State University 11. Contract or Grant No. P.O. Box 751, Portland, OR 97207 NITC-1079 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) Final Report (11/2016 – 8/2020) P.O. Box 751 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Portland, OR 97207 15. Supplementary Notes 16. Abstract Portland has faced a mass displacement of Black households from the historically segregated area of Albina through various phases of urban renewal, urban deterioration, and gentrification. A substantial number of them have moved to East Portland, a suburban segment of the City of Portland that was unincorporated county land prior to the 1990’s. As Black people have left Albina, the roots of Blackness there have eroded from the area as businesses and churches catering to them have also closed as a result of lost patrons. In this study I interviewed 27 low-income working-age Black people with children with the sample divided between Albina and East Portland. I talked to them about how they got around, the places they were going, the people in their lives that help them get by, and how it has all been affected by gentrification. I evaluated their interviews through the theories of social reproduction and social exclusion with an emphasis on geographic differences in lived experiences between Albina and East Portland. I found that people in Albina were better resourced, on average, to accomplish their daily life maintenance. Through easier transportation (including a higher rate of car ownership), better and stronger social support networks, and a higher density of nearby destinations, Albina residents could get around faster, easier, and accomplish more in a day. East Portlanders struggled far more. Clustering of destinations around the western edge of East Portland put those destinations out of reach for most of them. Support networks for people in East Portland featured a lot of friends and family that had also been displaced, but their networks there were under-resourced. They often had to turn to their network living in Albina for their more critical needs like childcare, but it took a lot more effort to utilize. Overall, the cultural rootedness of Albina appeared to be eroding as more and more Black people left and were being replaced by high-end shops, restaurants, and White people. Safety concerns on transit was leading to huge declines in willingness to use transit. This was spurred in part by the racially-motivated murders on MAX, but mostly because of their encounters with homeless people and people with untreated mental illnesses which also spilled over into overt racist acts against them or their children. And while East Portland has had a lot of investments in road safety, it is the distance between destinations that has really hurt their ability to survive. As East Portland continues to grow with more low-income people of color, more attention needs to go to the urban development of the area to make life a little easier for them. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Transportation, Portland, gentrification, Black households No restrictions. Copies available from NITC: https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/project/1079 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 268 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized “I Should Have Moved Somewhere Else”: The Impacts of Gentrification on Transportation and Social Support for Black Working-Poor Families in Portland, Oregon by Steven Anthony Howland A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies Dissertation Committee: Karen Gibson, chair Jennifer Dill Greg Schrock Amy Lubitow Portland State University 2020 ©2020 Steven Anthony Howland Abstract Portland has faced a mass displacement of Black households from the historically segregated area of Albina through various phases of urban renewal, urban deterioration, and gentrification. A substantial number of them have moved to East Portland, a suburban segment of the City of Portland that was unincorporated county land prior to the 1990’s. As Black people have left Albina, the roots of Blackness there have eroded from the area as businesses and churches catering to them have also closed as a result of lost patrons. In this study I interviewed 27 low-income working-age Black people with children with the sample divided between Albina and East Portland. I talked to them about how they got around, the places they were going, the people in their lives that help them get by, and how it has all been affected by gentrification. I evaluated their interviews through the theories of social reproduction and social exclusion with an emphasis on geographic differences in lived experiences between Albina and East Portland. I found that people in Albina were better resourced, on average, to accomplish their daily life maintenance. Through easier transportation (including a higher rate of car ownership), better and stronger social support networks, and a higher density of nearby destinations, Albina residents could get around faster, easier, and accomplish more in a day. East Portlanders struggled far more. Clustering of destinations around the western edge of East Portland put those destinations out of reach for most of them. Support networks for people in East Portland featured a lot of friends and family that had also been displaced, but their i networks there were under-resourced. They often had to turn to their network living in Albina for their more critical needs like childcare, but it took a lot more effort to utilize. Overall, the cultural rootedness of Albina appeared to be eroding as more and more Black people left and were being replaced by high-end shops, restaurants, and White people. Safety concerns on transit was leading to huge declines in willingness to use transit. This was spurred in part by the racially-motivated murders on MAX, but mostly because of their encounters with homeless people and people with untreated mental illnesses which also spilled over into overt racist acts against them or their children. And while East Portland has had a lot of investments in road safety, it is the distance between destinations that has really hurt their ability to survive. As East Portland continues to grow with more low- income people of color, more attention needs to go to the urban development of the area to make life a little easier for them. ii Acknowledgements I want to thank my committee for being patient with me in getting this done. It was a long ride. I also want to thank my writing group of Jamaal Green, Amy Coplen, Steve Marotta, and Andree Tremoulet for helping in get words on the page. And lastly, I want to thank my family for giving me all the support and encouragement I needed to finish. It was not easy, and I appreciate the help each of you gave me along the way. This would not be finished if not for you. And specifically, for my dad who will not be able to read this or celebrate this achievement with me. He was my primary inspiration for studying urban planning and that has led me all the way through my Ph.D. This dissertation was funded in part through the National Institute of Transportation and Communities Dissertation Fellowship and the Maurie Clark Endowed Fellowship. iii Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... iii List of Tables................................................................................................................ vii List of Figures ............................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1 Introduction .....................................................................................................1 Chapter 2 Background .....................................................................................................8 Social Reproduction and Social Exclusion ............................................................................... 8 Transportation and Black Disadvantage ................................................................................. 12 Mode Choice ..................................................................................................................... 12 Access ............................................................................................................................... 15
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