The Back-To-The-City Movement Revisited

:Mounting evidence of residential neighborhood revitalization in the early to mid-1970s and impressions that such activity was based on a back-to-the-city movement promoted optimism about the future of cities However, studies conducted during the late 1970s to evaluate this phenomenon questioned its existence. This not only had a chilling effect on the belief in the renaissance of cities, but also undermined concerns about the major liability that had become associated with the back-to-the-city movement: residential displacement An evaluation of these studies indicates that their findings and conclusions about the back-to-the-city movement were not justified The results of this study show that many home buyers are moving into cities from non-city areas. It also shows that this migration causes considerable displacement problems. This article is organized into two sections. The first presents a background for the back-to-the-city movement including an evaluation of the previous studies. The second describes a study of two neighborhoods undergoing revitalization in the city of Hartford Connecticut, which attempts to address the questions raised about the previous studies and presents its findings.