Gentrification and the Increasing Significance of Racial Transition in New York City 1970–2010

Abstract

Gentrification is characterized as a spatial manifestation of economic inequality. An unsettled debate about gentrification is the extent to which it is also marked by distinct changes in neighborhood racial composition over time. This study uses a balanced panel of census data and retail data for New York City between 1970 and 2010 to extend prior research on the trajectory of gentrification and racial transition. This analysis finds an inverse relationship between Black and Latino residents and the pace of gentrification that increases over time. Consistent with theories of gentrification, it consistently trends with increasing household income. When income growth is disaggregated by race, Blacks and Latinos either have no effect or dampen the pace of gentrification by 2010. These findings support popular claims that even middle-class Blacks and Latinos are increasingly unable to remain in gentrifying neighborhoods as processes of change extend across the city.