Recent research calls for policies to incentivize affordable housing in the urban cores of shrinking cities like Buffalo and Cleveland, lest gentrification drive low income residents away from the resources and efficiencies found in urban density.
The article by Charlotte Hsu examines a recent study by Robert Silverman, associate professor of urban and regional planning University at Buffalo. The study starts from the perhaps surprising assumption that even shrinking cities, with their abundant vacant properties, are faced with the ill-effects of gentrification—a problem compounded by the lack of resources and infrastructure on the periphery of such metropolitan areas.
“Silverman's study, which began this winter, is funded by a $125,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s Sustainable Communities Research Grant Program. The project aims to identify what he calls ‘neighborhoods of opportunity’ within each of the 10 target cities.”
"Buffalo is a good example," says Silverstein in the article. "People have been leaving, but there is revitalization downtown and along the Main Street corridor. We need to protect affordable housing in these areas." That way, people can stay connected to the “resources they need to achieve success.”
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