New Paper on Defining and Measuring Gentrification

Earlier this month, a new report, Gentrification: Framing our Perceptions, was released which examines the many definitions and measurements for gentrification and why they matter. Written by Rachel Bogardus Drew, senior research analyst with Enterprise’s Policy Development and Research group, the report notes the lack of consensus in recent studies about how to define gentrification, with different variables and criteria applied to designate communities as gentrified. This leads to conflicting findings about this form of neighborhood change, resulting in greater confusion, rather than clarification, about where and how gentrification occurs, as well as its effects on low-income communities and their residents. Inconsistent definitions of gentrification also have important ramifications for housing policy, which relies on evidence about changing conditions to prescribe effective responses. This report is the first in a new series on gentrification, and lays the framework for a forthcoming study that will apply different measures of gentrification to a nation-wide dataset of neighborhood conditions over time. Future research will also look at the intersection of policy decisions and gentrification.