gentrification

APPENDIX ARESPONSES TO GENTRIFICATION — FOUR CASE STUDIESThe authors visited four metropolitan areas in early 2000 to examine first-hand the dynamicsof gentrification. These areas displayed a very broad range of gentrification. With its sizzlingeconomy and constrained housing market, gentrification was widespread in the San Francisco BayArea. Much more modest gentrification was occurring in the reviving cities of Atlanta andWashington, D.C. Cleveland appeared to be attracting some higher income households into only afew neighborhoods, but not at a level that was producing any noticeable displacement of originalresidents. The dynamics of each of these markets are explained in the following sections.A. San Francisco Bay AreaGentrification in the Bay Area of California is much more widespread than in any other citystudied. Hard hit in past decades by defense base closings and the general economic slide inCalifornia during the early ‘90s, the Bay Area’s economy now seems unstoppable. An economictidal wave is washing over the Bay Area, originating in Silicon Valley, but affecting all parts of thismassive and varied metropolitan area. The wave has lifted many boats, soaked some longstandingdisadvantaged communities, and inundated other towns completely unprepared for the flood. Theeconomic pressures in the area lead renters and owners to compete for housing either in therelatively few remaining affordable areas, many of which have historically been home to lowerincome and minority residents, or in the as-yet undeveloped perimeter areas.1. Factors Driving GentrificationThe San Francisco Bay Area encompasses at least nine counties and the major cities ofOakland, San Francisco and San Jose. Nearly seven million people live in the area 51 and thousandsmove into the area annually from around the U.S. and other countries, attracted by its economicopportunity, moderate climate, and overall quality of life.Two major factors underlie development in the Bay Area: unprecedented economic growthand constrained housing markets.Rapid Job Growth. In addition to pressure from the state’s strong economic boom, the BayArea’s explosion in high technology development and commerce has led to an unprecedentedgrowth in jobs. Although the largest concentration of new jobs is in the Silicon Valley sub-regionaround San Jose, south of San Francisco, all counties in the region are currently experiencingsubstantial employment growth. Brennan and Hill’s research concludes that job growth in SanFrancisco proper increased only 0.3 percent between 1993 and 1996, while that in the Bay Area’s51 Demographic Research Unit, California Department of Finance, Table 1: Historical City/County PopulationEstimates, 1991-1999 with 1990 Census Count, retrieved March, 2000 on the World Wide Web:http://www.dof.ca.gov/html/demograp/Hist_E-4.xls.42