Citation:
Abstract:
Few studies have considered the role of immigration in the rise of gentrification
in the late twentieth century. Analysis of U.S. Census and American
Community Survey data over 24 years and field surveys of gentrification in
low-income neighborhoods across 23 U.S. cities reveal that most gentrifying
neighborhoods were “ global” in the 1970s or became so over time. An early
presence of Asians was positively associated with gentrification; and an early
presence of Hispanics was positively associated with gentrification in
neighborhoods with substantial shares of blacks and negatively associated with
gentrification in cities with high Hispanic growth, where ethnic enclaves were
more likely to form. Low-income, predominantly black neighborhoods and
neighborhoods that became Asian and Hispanic destinations remained
ungentrified despite the growth of gentrification during the late twentieth
century. The findings suggest that the rise of immigration after 1965 brought
pioneers to many low-income central-city neighborhoods, spurring
gentrification in some neighborhoods and forming ethnic enclaves in others.