Formulation and Evaluation of Two Citywide Gentrification Measures

The following exposition describes two novel empirical methods devised to measure citywide gentrification: the Dynamic Measure of Citywide Gentrification and the Cross-Sectional Measure of Citywide Gentrification. This paper tests for these measures’ viability. These measures were regressed against demographic variables, and many of the coefficients are statistically significant. These measures are associated as expected with each other when graphed and regressed, though the correlation and R 2 coefficients are lower than expected. Prominent cities identified as highly gentrified by each measure conform to expectations, and prominent cities identified as least gentrified by the Dynamic Measure also conform to expectations. For prominent cities, each measure's identification of highly gentrified cities generally conforms to the other measure. Ultimately, this paper provides evidence for the viability of these measures to assess gentrification at the level of the city. Local policymakers should expect gentrification to emerge across downtown districts.