Gentrification and displacement of the African-American population: A case study of two neighborhoods in Cincinnati, U.S.A., 2000–2016

Abstract

Cincinnati, like many mid-sized cities in the U.S., has undergone gentrification in the past few decades. One of the downsides of gentrification is that it supposedly displaces lower-income (often minority) population. This paper examines two census tracts in two neighborhoods in Cincinnati that underwent gentrification between 2000 and 2016 using a combination of census data, interviews with neighborhood Community Development Corporation members, building permits, and Google Street View Analysis. The African-American population in both of these neighborhoods declined by 20.0 percent between 2000 and 2016. It is suggested that the housing crisis of 2008 affected middle-class African-Americans to a greater extent than their white counterparts and led to the exodus of African-Americans from these tracts. Using a gentrification index adapted from Hwang (2015) to measure change in the built environment, it was shown that these two tracts progressed from disinvested in 2007/09 to early stage gentrification by 2016. These changes included the renovation of buildings, the construction of new mixed-use complexes, and changes in the types of businesses in the neighborhoods.