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Gentrification and Racial Transformation in Cincinnati, 2000-2016

Ravuri, Evelyn
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1563872625077935

Abstract Details

2019, MCP, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Community Planning.
Gentrification, first noticed in the largest cities of the United States in the 1960s, had diffused down the urban hierarchy by the 21st century. This new use of the urban landscape ushers in concerns over how revitalization of formerly disinvested areas of the cities and the consequent in-migration of higher-income populations has affected low-income populations. Cincinnati is one medium-sized city that has been affected by gentrification and the displacement of its low-income, largely African-American population. Using Hammel and Wyly’s (1996) gentrification criteria, it was determined that 26 census tracts in the City of Cincinnati experienced gentrification between 2000 and 2016. Fifteen of those tracts experienced displacement of the African-American population during this time. Logistic regression revealed that a gentrifying tract was 4.6 times more likely to experience displacement than a non-gentrifying tract between 2000 and 2016 indicating a possible cause and effect relationship. By using triangulation of three data sources: U.S. census data, Google Streetview imagery, and interviews with members of Community Development Corporations in four gentrifying neighborhoods in Cincinnati, this thesis explored possible reasons why two of these census tracts experienced displacement of African-American population and two did not. Tracts 55 (Madisonville) and 74 (Northside) were recipients of major economic investments in their business districts by public and private corporations after 2009. It is argued that substantial economic investment in these two formerly disinvested neighborhoods caused substantial increases in median housing values and median rent and led to displacement of lower-income individuals, many of whom were African-American. Google Streetview imagery examined change in the built environment in these two tracts between 2007 and 2014/16 and confirmed that these changes corresponded with gentrification. Conversely, Tract 84 (College Hill) did not experience displacement nor did its built environment change much between 2010 and 2016. Tract 84, unlike Tracts 55 and 74, had a substantial supply of high-quality housing stock at affordable prices which attracted higher-income in-migrants between 2000 and 2010. It appears that two separate housing markets operating in Tract 84 keep in-migrants from competing for the same housing opportunities as the lower-income African-American population. Tract 19 (Walnut Hills) was further along in the gentrification process in 2000 than its counterparts in the other three tracts. Displacement of African-American population occurred between 2000 and 2010 as median housing values/median rents increased, but between 2010 and 2016, displacement was curtailed. Most of the post- 2010 economic investment was focused on Walnut Hill’s business district and the renovation of vacant buildings for housing and did not result in displacement between 2000 and 2010. Interviews with CDC members revealed that the most poignant issue in their neighborhoods was the provision of affordable housing. Going forward, Cincinnati should rethink its public transportation system. All four neighborhoods were noted for accessibility to downtown and focusing on mixed-use development and densification along these nodes could lead to racially and socio-economically well-integrated neighborhoods in the City of Cincinnati and benefit all residents.
Leah Hollstein, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Christopher Auffrey, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
315 p.
Urban Planning
gentrification; built environment; urban revitalization; Cincinnati; African-American displacement

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Ravuri, E. (2019). Gentrification and Racial Transformation in Cincinnati, 2000-2016 [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1563872625077935

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Ravuri, Evelyn. Gentrification and Racial Transformation in Cincinnati, 2000-2016. 2019. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1563872625077935.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Ravuri, Evelyn. "Gentrification and Racial Transformation in Cincinnati, 2000-2016." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1563872625077935

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.