Inner-City Real Estate Investment, Gentrification, and Economic Recession in New York City

Abstract

Considerable debate about the significance of the early 1990s recession (and subsequent property boom) on gentrification is still largely unresolved because the scale of analysis used to research this question has continued to focus on the neighborhood. This study examines the influence of recession on gentrification in New York City through citywide housing-market data. By using a wider lens to examine gentrification, the larger progression of uneven development and its recent acceleration become clearer. It also becomes evident that the process (of gentrification) is changing, qualitatively and quantitatively, in ways that are difficult to discern in localized studies.