Gown, Town, and Neighborhood Change: An Examination of Urban Neighborhoods with University Revitalization Efforts

Abstract

Universities are expanding their missions to encompass neighborhoods and revitalization strategies, yet there is an inadequate understanding of how targeted neighborhoods have changed. This study combines institutional survey data with 1990 and 2010 Census metrics to examine twenty-two neighborhoods with university revitalization initiatives. It explores market and socioeconomic change for target tracts relative to their regions, finding significant positive changes in target tract median home and rent values. The research suggests universities use revitalization efforts to respond to place-based deficits and, in doing so, align their neighborhoods with concurrent national trends toward growing enrollment and urban revitalization.