What Types of Stores are Bound for Your Neigborhood?

Nate Berg profiles the work of Rachel Meltzer, assistant professor at the New School, and Jenny Schuetz, an assistant professor at the University of Southern California, who have published several studies intent on exploring the less understood causes and results of Gentrification.

Comparing the mix of retail choices available in affluent and impoverished areas, "It's not just about the number of establishments that are there, but how big are they, what do they look like, what products are they providing," Meltzer says. "It's about a package of services that you get in the neighborhood."

"What's included in that package may make one neighborhood more attractive to a certain type of person, or a certain type of person may make elements of that retail package seem to business owners like viable options in those neighborhoods. Which (and if) one drives the other isn't clear, and may never be."