Continuities in the Study of Ecological Succession: Changes in the Race Composition of Neighborhoods and Their Businesses

This paper concerns the problem of how residential succession affects the character of one set of local organizations: small businesses in racially changing neighborhoods. A key issue examined is the extent to which the causes and consequences of residential succession account also for the succession of small-busines organizations. Only one type of succession is examined in this paper: the movement of blacks into areas previously occupied by whites. The impact of the transition in residential population on the abandonment of business sites and/or the turnover of business from white to black or Puerto Rican ownership is the particular focus of inquiry. Results of the analysis indicate that the residential succession model fits our data on business succession quite well.