Bay Area Displacement and Gentrification Trends Have Regional Consequences

A joint project between the Urban Displacement Project and the California Housing Partnership examines the mobility patterns of low-income people of color in the Bay Area to understand the various impacts of rising housing costs and displacement.

The study focuses on three Bay Area counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco. It finds that cities throughout the region lost significant numbers of black households between 2000 and 2015, and that black households were concentrate in particular cities with lower housing costs and less access to resources.

It also identifies areas that were newly segregated with high concentrations of poverty. This phenomenon is attributed to increased housing costs and migration. In addition, the percentage of households in these areas that were black or Latino increased over time. For low-income households that did move, a larger portion of household income went to rent as compared to households that did not move.

The report offers an overview on strategies to counter the effects of displacement and gentrification in the Bay Area:

[These counties] and the region need policies and investments that support housing affordability and stability for low-income people of color, while also increasing their access to high-resource neighborhoods. To be successful, these policies and investments must account for both the legacies of racial segregation and recent patterns of re-segregation.

The Urban Displacement Project has also conducted research on displacement and effects on quality of life, the role of market-rate and subsidized housing in alleviating the Bay Area's housing crisis, and ways to pinpoint areas at risk of gentrification.