Dealing with Neighborhood Change: a Primer on Gentrification and Policy Choices
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______________________________________________________________________________ DEALING WITH NEIGHBORHOOD CHANGE: A PRIMER ON GENTRIFICATION AND POLICY CHOICES Maureen Kennedy Paul Leonard A Discussion Paper Prepared for The Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy www.brookings.edu/urban and PolicyLink www.policylink.org April 2001 ______________________________________________________________________________ THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION CENTER ON URBAN AND METROPOLITAN POLICY SUMMARY OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS * THE DISCUSSION PAPER SERIES 2001 The Implications of Changing U.S. Demographics for Housing Choice and Location in Cities Sprawl Hits the Wall: Confronting the Realities of Metropolitan Los Angeles Lost in the Balance: How State Policies Affect the Fiscal Health of Cities Growth at the Ballot Box: Electing the Shape of Communities in November 2000 2000 Ten Steps to a High Tech Future: The New Economy in Metropolitan Seattle Who Should Run the Housing Voucher Program? A Reform Proposal (Working Paper) Do Highways Matter? Evidence and Policy Implications of Highways’ Influence on Metropolitan Development Adding It Up: Growth Trends and Policies in North Carolina Cautionary Notes for Competitive Cities (Working Paper) Business Location Decision-Making and the Cities: Bringing Companies Back (Working Paper) Community Reinvestment and Cities: a Literatures Review of CRA’s Impact and Future Moving Beyond Sprawl: The Challenge for Metropolitan Atlanta 1999 Cities and Finance Jobs: The Effects of Financial Services Restructuring on the Location of Employment Ten Steps to a Living Downtown Welfare-to-Work Block Grants: Are They Working? Improving Regional Transportation Decisions: MPOs and Certification A Region Divided: The State of Growth in Greater Washington, D.C. Washington Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability Beyond Social Security: The Local Aspects of an Aging America The Market Potential of Inner-City Neighborhoods: Filling the Information Gap i Livability at the Ballot Box: State and Local Referenda on Parks, Conservation, and Smarter Growth, Election Day 1998 Towards a Targeted Homeownership Tax Credit THE SURVEY SERIES 2001 High Tech Specialization: A Comparison of High Technology Centers Vacant Land in Cities: An Urban Resource 2000 Office Sprawl: The Evolving Geography of Business Unfinished Business: Why Cities Matter to Welfare Reform Flexible Funding for Transit: Who Uses It? 1999 Children in Cities: Uncertain Futures Housing Heats Up: Home Building Patterns in Metropolitan Areas Where Are the Jobs?: Cities, Suburbs, and the Competition for Employment Eds and Meds: Cities’ Hidden Assets The State of Welfare Caseloads in America’s Cities: 1999 FORTHCOMING The Spatial Distribution of Housing-Related Tax Expenditures in the U.S. * Copies of these and other Urban Center publications are available on the web site, www.brook.edu/urban, or by calling the Urban Center at (202) 797-6139. ii POLICYLINK * SUMMARY OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS 2001 Achieving Equity through Smart Growth: Perspectives from Philanthropy 2000 Briefing Book: Strategies and Examples of Community-Based Approaches to Equity and Smart Growth – A Working Document Communities Gaining Access to Capital: Social Equity Criteria and Implementation Recommendations for the Community Capital Investment Initiative (CCII) Communities Now!: A Newsletter Describing the Impact of the Community Reinvestment Act and the Fight to Save it in 2000 Community Based Initiatives Promoting Regional Equity: Profiles of Innovative Programs from Across the Country Community Involvement in the Federal Healthy Start Program From Promising Practices To Promising Futures: Job Training in Information Technology for Disadvantaged Adults 1999 Community Based Regionalism: California Convening Opportunities for Smarter Growth: Social Equity and the Smart Growth Movement Perspectives on Regionalism: Opportunities for Community-Based Organizations to Advance Equity – A Review of the Academic and Policy Literature Thinkers and Resources for Promoting Equitable Development *Information about these publications, including the full text of many of them, is available on the PolicyLink website, www.policylink.org. * iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy would like to thank the Surdna Foundation, Inc. and the Fannie Mae Foundation for their generous support of the Center and its work on competitive cities. PolicyLink is grateful for the support it receives from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Open Society Institute. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Maureen Kennedy is a California-based policy consultant focused on housing and economic development issues, and high-leverage social change strategies. She served in the Clinton Administration, first in the White House, then as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and finally as Administrator of the Rural Housing Service. Paul Leonard is a policy consultant specializing in issues of housing, community development and welfare reform, based in Berkeley, CA. He served as acting Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Comments on this paper can be sent directly to the authors at [email protected] and [email protected]. The views expressed in this discussion paper are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the trustees, officers, or staff members of the Brookings Institution, nor of the board of directors of PolicyLink. Copyright (c) 2001 The Brookings Institution iv ABSTRACT This paper serves as a primer on how to view the complex issue of gentrification. It reviews the findings, analyses and frameworks developed during the gentrification wave of the ‘70s and ‘80s. The paper outlines the complex ways that current and “original” residents view gentrification—and clarifies that long-time neighbors can take very different positions on the gentrification issue. Additionally, the paper shows the wide range in the way gentrification pressures play out in three very different cities and one multi-city region – Atlanta, Cleveland, Washington, D.C., and the San Francisco Bay Area – pointing out that gentrification is a much more urgent concern in some areas than in others, where it hardly exists at all. Finally, the paper suggests policies and strategies that can be pursued to advance equitable development by optimizing the benefits of neighborhood change while minimizing or eliminating the downsides of such change. v TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 II. THE GOAL OF REVITALIZATION: EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT............................. 4 III. GENTRIFICATION DYNAMICS: DEFINITION, SCALE, CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES......................................... 5 A. HOW BIG A TREND IS GENTRIFICATION?................................................. 7 B. WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF GENTRIFICATION?........................................ 9 C. CONSEQUENCES OF GENTRIFICATION .................................................. 14 IV. THE POLITICAL DYNAMICS OF GENTRIFICATION............................................. 25 V. MAKING GENTRIFICATION WORK FOR THE COMMUNITY, CITY AND REGION: 10 STEPS TO A STRONGER COMMUNITY ....................................................... 28 1. KNOWING THE CONTEXT...................................................................... 29 2. ANTICIPATING THE PRESSURE.............................................................. 30 3. GETTING ORGANIZED.......................................................................... 30 4. DEVELOPING A UNIFIED VISION AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN................... 31 5. IMPLEMENTING REGULATORY AND POLICY FIXES................................... 32 6. MAXIMIZING PUBLIC ASSETS FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD ............................. 36 7. EDUCATING RESIDENTS ABOUT THEIR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OTHER OPTIONS ................................................................................. 37 8. IMPROVING THE PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM ........................................ 37 9. PREPARING GROUPS TO NEGOTIATE .................................................... 38 10. CREATING FORUMS TO UNIFY THE GENTRIFYING COMMUNITY ................. 38 VI. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................. 40 APPENDIX A: RESPONSES TO GENTRIFICATION — FOUR CASE STUDIES................ 42 A. SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA................................................................ 42 B. ATLANTA........................................................................................... 49 C. WASHINGTON.................................................................................... 54 D. CLEVELAND ...................................................................................... 60 APPENDIX B: ADDITIONAL RESOURCES................................................................ 65 BIBILOGRAPHY…………..…………………………………………………………….66 vi PREFACE The Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy’s mission is : (1) to conduct empirical research on market, demographic, and policy trends that affect cities and metropolitan areas; (2) to produce new ideas about the challenges that emerge from these trends, in order to stimulate change; and (3) to create and nurture a broad network