Burden or benefit: Is retail marijuana facility siting influenced by LULU- or gentrification-related neighbourhood characteristics?

Abstract

As legal marijuana is emerging as an important component of cities across the United States, it is important to understand the factors that contribute to legal marijuana facility siting. Although land use and zoning are expected to determine where commercial marijuana facilities are located, if residential characteristics also enter siting considerations, some neighbourhoods may either bear the burden of undesired facilities or reap the benefits of legal marijuana, underscoring equitable considerations in marijuana facility siting. Thus, this study examines how neighbourhood change associated with locally unwanted land uses and gentrification influences the amount of retail marijuana facilities across three US cities: Denver, Colorado; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington. Using a series of Poisson-related regressions, this study finds that neighbourhood residential characteristics influence retail marijuana facilities in ways exceeding siting restrictions alone, like zoning. Notably, quantitative results suggest that there are fewer retail marijuana facilities in neighbourhoods experiencing locally unwanted land use-related change than non-locally unwanted land use neighbourhoods in Denver and Seattle; and more retail marijuana facilities in gentrified compared to non-gentrified neighbourhoods in Denver. Overall, these findings advance understanding of the connection between legal marijuana and neighbourhood changes and aim to influence guidelines for integrating legal marijuana facilities into communities.