The impact of gentrification on residential evictions

Abstract

Gentrification, a process of transforming working-class areas into middle-class use, is a pervasive process in many cities around the world. Although researchers recognize the dangers of displacement in this process, the magnitude of dislocation is highly contested. Literature on gentrification offers little guidance with regard to understanding the timing of displacement in a gentrifying neighborhood. Moreover, evictions have been neglected as a form of gentrification-led displacement, which may have led to underestimating displacement effects. This study sheds light on the geography of displacement through an analysis of 59,415 eviction applications in the City of Toronto from 1999 to 2001, which are compared with the timing of gentrification at the census tract level (n = 502). The study finds that evictions are positively associated with (1) neighborhoods in early stages of gentrification, and (2) “pre-gentrified neighborhoods” that are beginning to be marked by changes in social composition, that is, an increasing number of artists and people with higher education, but no significant increase yet in aggregate income or the number of owner-occupied dwellings. By illuminating the timing and magnitude of displacement in gentrifying neighborhoods, this study fosters a better understanding of gentrification outcomes that may inform policies to ameliorate its negative impacts.

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