Gentrification and residential mobility in Philadelphia

Lei Ding, Eileen Divringi and Jackelyn Hwang

No 15-36, Working Papers from Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Abstract: Gentrification has provoked considerable debate and controversy about its effects on neighborhoods and the people residing in them. This paper draws on a unique large-scale consumer credit database to examine the mobility patterns of residents in gentrifying neighborhoods in the city of Philadelphia from 2002 to 2014. We find significant heterogeneity in the effects of gentrification across neighborhoods and subpopulations. Residents in gentrifying neighborhoods have slightly higher mobility rates than those in nongentrifying neighborhoods, but they do not have a higher risk of moving to a lower-income neighborhood. Moreover, gentrification is associated with some positive changes in residents? financial health as measured by individuals? credit scores. However, when more vulnerable residents (low-score, longer-term residents, or residents without mortgages) move from gentrifying neighborhoods, they are more likely to move to lower-income neighborhoods and neighborhoods with lower values on quality-of-life indicators. The results reveal the nuances of mobility in gentrifying neighborhoods and demonstrate how the positive and negative consequences of gentrification are unevenly distributed.

Keywords: Gentrification; Residential mobility; Credit scores; Displacement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D14 J11 J6 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 62 pages
Date: 2015-10-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo, nep-lab and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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