A new report from City Observatory analyzes urban poverty and gentrification using census data from 1970 to 2010.
As Joe Cortright writes in Next City, City Observatory has created a new report analyzing the relationship between urban poverty and gentrification in American cities from 1970 to 2010. Specifically, the organization asked the question, “how many neighborhoods that used to have high rates of poverty have actually gentrified and how many people have actually been displaced by this new development?”
The results are found in the report titled, "Lost in Place: Why the persistence and spread of concentrated poverty–not gentrification–is our biggest urban challenge." Cortright summarizes some of the surprising findings, like how the hyper-gentrification of Williamsburg, for example, is rare throughout the country, as “[l]ess than 5 percent of 1970 high poverty neighborhoods have seen their poverty rates fall to below the national average over the past four decades. Far more common, and largely unnoticed, is a counter trend: the number of high-poverty neighborhoods in the U.S. has tripled, and the number of poor persons living in them has doubled since 1970. This growing concentration of poverty is the biggest problem confronting American cities.”
Cortright presents other findings from the report in his piece, like the deepening concentrations of poverty in neighborhoods and their population instability.
FULL STORY: More People in Cities Today Live in Poverty Than in 1970

Planetizen’s Top Planning Books of 2023
The world is changing, and planning with it.

Chicago Red Line Extension Could Transform the South Side
The city’s transit agency is undertaking its biggest expansion ever to finally bring rail to the South Side.

How ‘Daylighting’ Intersections Can Save Lives
Eliminating visual obstructions can make intersections safer for all users.

San Diego Trolley Nation’s Most Popular Light Rail
The system's ridership benefited from an extension project and free transit for youth.

San Jose Affordable Housing Development Gains Approval
A proposed project is moving forward with reduced building heights and all-affordable units.

Oklahoma City Begins Work on Parking-Protected Bike Lane
The project is part of the city’s broader plan to improve bike and pedestrian infrastructure and road safety.
City of Morganton
San Joaquin County
University of New Mexico - School of Architecture & Planning
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Park City Municipal Corporation
National Capital Planning Commission
City of Santa Fe, New Mexico
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.