Survey: Residents of Public Housing Don't See the Benefits of Gentrification

Greg B. Smith reports on a study by Abt Associates and New York University's Furman Center for Real Estate, commissioned by the city of New York, about the impacts of gentrification on residents of New York City Housing Authority buildings. According to Smith, the report "reached a conclusion most New Yorkers already accept as true: gentrification doesn't help the poor."

"The study, 'The Effects of Neighborhood Change on NYCHA Residents' [pdf]…found that NYCHA tenants often wind up feeling like aliens in their own neighborhoods, surrounded by newcomers who claimed they'd just 'discovered' the neighborhood."

The study, released in May, runs counter to the narrative about the benefits of developing new mixed-income housing in low-income neighborhoods. During the same month, the de Blasio Administration announced "a controversial plan to build hundreds of market-rate apartments on 'underutilized' NYCHA property," according to Smith.

NYCHA spokesperson Aja Worthy-Davis noticed the difference, releasing this statement about the goals of the proposal to build more units on NYCHA properties: "By building both affordable and mixed-income housing, we will protect NYCHA housing, expand affordable housing options for everyday New Yorkers, and bring small businesses and services like supermarkets and restaurants closer to NYCHA developments….We will in turn use this growth to connect NYCHA residents to new employment opportunities."

The article includes a lot more detail about the study and its implications for New York and on the debate about investment in low-income neighborhoods.