| Abstract |
Aimed at gathering and systematizing existing knowledge as an aid to policy formulation and further research, this brief report on urban displacement provides a broad cross-sectional view of the problem. Urban displacement has come to the fore in connection with the relatively new phenomenon variously called gentrification, urban reinvestment, and private residential revitalization. Simply, it involves the replacement of lower-income residents by more affluent households and the renovation of rundown housing in central urban neighborhoods. A review of the problem indicates that although it is growing across the nation, it is probably only a minor contributor to the overall displacement problem. Data suggest that the number displaced annually is no higher than the low hundreds for most cities, and probably not in excess of the low thousands even in the most active cities such as Washington, DC. Displacement can be triggered by many conditions in neighborhoods that are declining or undergoing disinvestment as well as in those on the upgrade. The process is often subtle; in fact, by the time gentrification has become obvious, many existing residents already may have been forced out by intolerable housing or neighborhood conditions, unaffordable increases in rents or taxes, or other problems. The chief cause no longer appears to lie in major public programs. Instead it is principally a private market phenomenon stimulated by broad market forces which are eroding the supply of low- and moderate-income housing. |
