Austin Pace Of Gentrification Outlined In Tract-Specific Study

EAST AUSTIN, TX -- A site named Governing has plotted out the extent of gentrification in Austin, assessing the way the landscape has been reshaped urban neighborhoods by commercial development.

The demographic data was analyzed for the nation's 50 most populous cities, including Austin. Changes in several key measures were calculated for each of the analyzed cities' census tracts and then compared to other metro areas.

The site notes that while its methodology is similar to prior research it has undertaken on the subject, there is no widely accepted definition of gentrification.

"Gentrification remains rare nationally," the authors of the gentrification study noted. "It did, however, greatly accelerate in many cities over the past decade."

Longtime residents in parts of Austin -- particularly in East Austin where its denizens lament the fast pace of commercialization there -- are painfully aware of some of the more corrosive aspects of gentrification as they see the landscape changing.

The Governing site provides tables illustrating the extent to which neighborhoods in Austin have been gentrified.

• Gentrifying Census Tracts: These tables show low-income tracts that experienced considerable growth in both home values and educational attainment, the study's authors explain. Eligibility for inclusion in this category is predicated on a tract's median household income and median home value being in the bottom 40th percentile of all tracts at the beginning of the decade.
• Tracts Not Gentrifying are those met criteria, but didn't experience enough growth in educational attainment and median home values relative to other tracts within a metro area to have gentrified, authors write.
• Not Eligible Tracts are parcels that are typically middle- and upper-income neighborhoods that didn't meet initial gentrification criteria. A tract's median household income and home values both needed to be in the bottom 40th percentile of all tracts to be eligible.

See the gentrification study at the Governing website >>

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