Urban Policy and Planning in the Wake of Gentrification Anticipating Renovators' Demands

Abstract

The renovation of inner-city housing by middle- and upper-income residents who choose central-city neighborhoods may contribute to urban core rebirth. However, with the positive contributions made by such renovators may come unforseen policy and planning problems for city governments. Renovators, because of their higher socioeconomic status, may make different, unexpected, or more costly demands on local tax coffers than the more traditional urban residents. A profile of renovators in a southern city undergoing extensive inner-city rehabilitation is examined for support of such a “problem” thesis. Analysis emphasizes the renovators' socioeconomic characteristics, their neighborhood and political involvement, their evaluation and ranking of city services, and their expectations and preferences for neighborhood land use and racial and class composition.