Keeping Revitalized Urban Neighborhoods Affordable

Abstract

Last May, George Jackson Jr., the president and CEO of the Detroit Economic Corporation, gave a warm embrace to gentrification at a forum on Detroit's future, telling the audience, “I'm sorry, but, I mean, bring it on. We can't just be a poor city and prosper." Jackson's remarks echo the views held by many residents of struggling postindustrial cities where the exodus of manufacturing jobs in tandem with suburbanization has resulted in cities hollowed out not only of their people but also their tax base. The Great Recession only intensified the economic decline of these once‐booming production centers, leaving in its trail an ever‐growing number of distressed buildings left tax delinquent, foreclosed, and abandoned. In the climate of this level of devastation, more affordable housing is often seen not only as unnecessary but counterproductive to a city's fate. Advocates of gentrification instead charge that the keys to revitalization are in attracting affluent urban professionals, incentivizing new businesses, and upgrading the public realm. Under this theory, housing affordability might be an issue in hot real estate markets like New York and San Francisco, but struggling cities like Detroit are deemed to already have too much affordable housing.