Neighborhood Investment Research Articles

Does Large-Scale Neighborhood Reinvestment Work? Effects of Public–Private Real Estate Investment on Local Sales Prices, Rental Prices, and Crime Rates

ABSTRACTDuring the 1990s, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded over $6 billion in competitive grants (HOPE VI) to spur neighborhood redevelopment. We add to HOPE VI research by examining the impacts of a large set of public–private real estate investments, including HOPE VI, made over a 16-year period in a distressed neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Hill District). We estimate the effects of $468 million additional public–private investments that Hill District received compared with a demographically similar neighborhood on sales prices, rental prices, and crime. We find large, statistically significant impacts of these investments on residential sales prices, commercial sales prices, and on rental prices, and a marginally significant yet meaningful decline in nonviolent arrests. For each $10 million of public–private investment, we find a 0.95%, 2.7%, and 0.55% increase in residential sales prices, commercial sales prices, and rental prices, respectively. Given the accumulated difference over 16 years of $468 million in these investments across the two neighborhoods, the percentage increases amount to large changes in prices over that time. Cities should anticipate the potential impacts of major neighborhood investment on low-income households, especially unsubsidized renters who most directly experience the brunt of rising rents.

Results from a natural experiment: initial neighbourhood investments do not change objectively-assessed physical activity, psychological distress or perceptions of the neighbourhood

BackgroundFew studies have assessed objectively measured physical activity (PA), active transportation, psychological distress and neighborhood perceptions among residents of a neighborhood before and after substantial improvements in its physical environment. Also, most research-to-date has employed study designs subject to neighborhood selection, which may introduce bias in reported findings.We built upon a previously enrolled cohort of households from two low-income predominantly African American Pittsburgh neighborhoods, matched on socio-demographic composition including race/ethnicity, income and education. One of the two neighborhoods received substantial neighborhood investments over the course of this study including, but not limited to public housing development and greenspace/landscaping. We implemented a natural experiment using matched intervention and control neighborhoods and conducted pre-post assessments among the cohort. Our comprehensive assessments included accelerometry-based PA, active transportation, psychological distress and perceptions of the neighborhood, with assessments conducted both prior to and following the neighborhood changes. In 2013, we collected data from 1003 neighborhood participants and in 2016, we re-interviewed 676 of those participants. We conducted an intent to treat analysis, with a difference-in-difference estimator using attrition weighting to account for nonresponse between 2013 and 2016. In addition, we derived an individual-level indicator of exposure to neighbourhood investment and estimated effect of exposure to investment on the same set of outcomes using covariate-adjusted models.ResultsWe observed no statistically significant differences in activity, psychological distress, satisfaction with one’s neighborhood as a place to live or any of the other measures we observed prior to and after the neighborhood investments between the intervention and control neighborhoods or those exposed vs not exposed to investments.ConclusionsUsing this rigorous study design, we observed no significant changes in the intervention neighborhood above and beyond secular trends present in the control neighborhood. Although neighborhood investment may have other benefits, we failed to see improvement in PA, psychological distress or related outcomes in the low-income African American neighborhoods in our study. This may be an indication that improvements in the physical environment may not directly translate into improvements in residents’ physical activity or health outcomes without additional individual-level interventions. It is also possible that these investments were not dramatic enough to spur change within the three year period. Additional studies employing similar design with other cohorts in other settings are needed to confirm these results.Trial registrationTrial Registration is not applicable since we did not prospectively assign individuals to a health-related intervention.

Tenure tipping

In light of the increased importance of the single family rental market, local policymakers and homeowners associations have expressed concern that neighborhoods might turn over, rapidly or otherwise, from largely owner-occupied homes to rental occupied properties. We construct a theoretical model of tenure tipping and employ the methods of Card et al. (2008, CMR) to understand the nature of this type of neighborhood turnover. The CMR model demonstrates that tenure tipping is observed only in the 1990s and 2000s (and not in earlier decades). However, this is not tipping in the traditional sense, since robustness checks indicate that tipping is only observed in more rapidly growing neighborhoods. In the 2000s in particular, this is congruent with investors in single family rentals geographically concentrating their investments in neighborhoods with sufficiently high initial rental share.

Cross-subsidies for improved sanitation in low income settlements: Assessing the willingness to pay of water utility customers in Kenyan cities

Abstract Most residents of the developing world do not have access to safely managed sanitation services, and large financial investments are required to address this need. Here we evaluate surcharges on water/sewerage tariffs as an option for supporting these investments in low-income neighborhoods. We investigated willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a pro-poor sanitation surcharge among customers of two urban water utilities in Kenya. Applying qualitative and quantitative methods, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews, focus-group discussions, and a double-bounded contingent valuation method for measuring WTP. We varied scenarios quasi-experimentally to study the effects of messaging and surcharge characteristics and evaluated factors associated with WTP. Our study finds that mean WTP was 290 KES (USD 2.9) per month, about 8% of the average water bill; median WTP was 100 KES (USD 1). In a multivariate analysis, WTP was significantly higher among customers that were younger, wealthier, shared toilets, and had higher water bills. WTP was also higher among customers that trusted the utility and distrusted the county government. Of our randomized scenarios, only the bill type was found to significantly influence WTP; WTP was higher if the surcharge was presented as a proportion of the customers’ last water bill vs a flat amount. Our findings suggest that in a sector that struggles to provide universal access to sanitation services, cross-subsidies may offer a means to support financing of safe sanitation for low-income households. These results indicate there are opportunities for cross-subsidies in urban Kenya that may be relevant for a wider understanding of surcharge payments that support basic services for low-income citizens.

Crime and private investment in urban neighborhoods

The question of how best to improve neighborhoods that lag behind has drawn considerable attention from policy-makers, practitioners, and academics, yet there remains a vigorous debate regarding the best approaches to accomplish community development. This paper investigates the role crime policy plays in shaping the trajectory of neighborhoods. Much of the existing research on neighborhood crime was conducted in rising-crime environments, and the evidence was clear: high levels of crime have adverse effects on neighborhoods and resident quality of life. This study examines how private investment in neighborhoods in two cities – Chicago and Los Angeles – changed as the incidence of neighborhood crime changed during the 2000s, a period when crime was declining city-wide in both places. Using detailed blockface-level data on the location of crime and private investments between 2006 and 2011, the analysis answers the question: Do changes in crime affect private development decisions? The results show that private investment, as represented by building permits, decreases on blocks where crime increases in the past year. We also find that the relationship between crime and private investment is not symmetric – private investment appears to only be sensitive to crime in rising crime contexts. The result is present in both cities, and robust to multiple definitions of crime and the elimination of outliers and the main commercial district. These results suggest that crime-reduction policies can be an effective economic development tool, but only in certain neighborhoods facing specific circumstances.

“They’re Not Building It for Us”: Displacement Pressure, Unwelcomeness, and Protesting Neighborhood Investment

In some of Camden, NJ’s most underdeveloped neighborhoods, new investment is perceived as a catch-22. Such investment is badly needed, but residents fear gentrification and the creation of white spaces. Our study examines that puzzle, that residents protest badly needed investment, using ethnographic and interview data from residents and Camden, NJ, as a case study for examining community understanding of gentrification. In doing so, we draw upon gentrification literature that focuses on displacement pressure and exclusionary displacement, but argue that the Camden case points towards a different dimension of gentrification. Our findings show how (1) exclusion and “unwelcomeness” created by the development of white spaces is conceptualized by residents as being distinct from the impact such exclusion has on future displacement and (2) that residents internalize that exclusion from white spaces, dampening their support and increasing their resistance for new development. Our findings represent a contribution to the discussion on displacement pressure, which focuses primarily on exclusion through financial and economic pressure on residents, and shows that racialized exclusion is, itself, a fundamental element of residential fear of gentrification. We point to an opportunity to address fears of gentrification not only through economic means but also by focusing on issues of access and exclusion in urban space as a direct response to such residential fears.

Light-Rail Investment in Seattle: Gentrification Pressures and Trends in Neighborhood Ethnoracial Composition

Research often finds a positive relationship between public transportation investment and gentrification in nearby neighborhoods. This dynamic is particularly important in urban contexts that plan for transit-oriented development and creating future “walkability.” In this study, I demonstrate a link between transit investment and changing neighborhood racial and ethnic composition, using a case study of the recent light-rail project in Seattle, Washington. Descriptive analyses and difference-in-difference models suggest that affected neighborhoods in Seattle experienced rising shares of non-Hispanic Whites following the start of light-rail construction, while neighborhoods at the suburban periphery of the line saw substantial growth in racial and ethnic diversity. These findings highlight the role of transit infrastructure in restructuring demographic trajectories of nearby neighborhoods and contribute evidence about shifting patterns of residential segregation in the area around the transit line.

Analyzing investment flows in comprehensive community revitalization: The case of Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco

ABSTRACTDespite the rise of comprehensive community initiatives, little research evaluates the specific type and extent of neighborhood investment generated by government spending. This study uses the case of housing revitalization in San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood to determine the feasibility of analyzing public, private, and nonprofit investment flows related to the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative and HOPE SF. Through analyses of both secondary and primary data, this article finds that not only is identifying all of the different investments challenging but that multiple factors complicate analysis, including the timing of the business cycle, city budget cutbacks, market pressures from surrounding neighborhoods, and real estate speculation. Furthermore, neighborhood residents are perceiving little change—or at least few benefits for themselves—in the area. This suggests the need for different tools, such as value capture strategies and community benefits agreements, to better serve the needs of existing residents of low-income communities.

Can the introduction of a full-service supermarket in a food desert improve residents' economic status and health?

PurposeTo estimate the impacts of a new supermarket in a low-income desert, on residents' economic status and health. MethodsWe surveyed a randomly selected cohort in two low-income Pittsburgh neighborhoods before and about 1 year following the opening of a supermarket. We used difference-in-difference approach to test changes across the two neighborhoods in residents' food security, United States Department of Agriculture Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infant and Children participation, employment, income, and self-reported health/chronic disease diagnoses. ResultsWe observed declines in food insecurity (−11.8%, P < .01), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participation (−12.2%, P < .01), and fewer new diagnoses of high cholesterol (−9.6%, P = .01) and arthritis (−7.4%, P = .02) in the neighborhood with the new supermarket relative to residents of the comparison neighborhood. We also found suggestive evidence that residents' incomes increased more ($1550, P = .09) and prevalence of diabetes increased less in the neighborhood with the supermarket than in the comparison neighborhood (−3.6%, P = .10). ConclusionsLocating a new supermarket in a low-income neighborhood may improve residents' economic well-being and health. Policymakers should consider broad impacts of neighborhood investment that could translate into improved health for residents of underserved neighborhoods.

Can Urban Renewal Policies Reverse Neighborhood Ethnic Dynamics?

This paper assesses the impact on neighborhood population dynamics of a major urban renewal policy implemented in Catalonia (Spain) between 2004 and 2010. Some of the most deprived neighborhoods in the region received large investments in their public spaces and facilities with the aim of attracting natives and high income individuals and of reducing the concentration of poverty and immigration. The control group comprises rejected projects and projects accepted towards the end of the program that, due to a fall in public tax revenues, were never executed. The results suggest that the urban renewal projects had little (if any) effects on population dynamics, suggesting that substantial investment in deprived neighborhoods is insufficient to attract natives and/or high income households. Interestingly, the sole exception were the interventions made in Barcelona’s historic districts, where the policy seems to have augmented ongoing processes of urban revival into its most deprived neighborhoods furthering processes of gentrification.

Foreclosures, Investors, and Uneven Development during the Great Recession in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

ABSTRACT:In the wake of the U.S. housing crisis, what has happened to the substantial stock of foreclosed or real estate–owned (REO) properties is only beginning to be understood. The eventual outcomes of these properties are central to our understanding of the varied impacts of the foreclosure crisis, including its contribution to enduring and emerging patterns of uneven development. This article considers the scope and potential impacts of investor purchases of foreclosures in diverse neighborhoods in the Los Angeles region. Overall, findings suggest that very different patterns of investment emerged in the urban core, the postwar inner-ring suburbs, and the exurbs. In addition, investors’ purchases and strategies varied significantly according to neighborhood racial composition and, to a much lesser extent, neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics. These patterns highlight two major issues: a sharp divide in investment between the relatively similar urban/inner-ring suburban core and the newer exurbs; and the enduring relationship between race and capital investment in neighborhoods in the wake of the housing crisis.

Housing Disinvestment and Crime in a Phoenix Suburb: Exploring the Differential Effects of Investors and Owner-Occupants

External investment in neighborhoods can inhibit crime. However, during the housing crisis, many investors were foreclosed upon, triggering large-scale community disinvestment. Yet the impact of this type of disinvestment on crime is currently unknown. Combining data on crime incidents with foreclosure, home sales, and sociodemographic data, this research assesses whether the foreclosure of properties owned by investors has an effect on crime in neighborhoods in Chandler, Arizona, a suburb in the heavily affected Phoenix region. Neighborhoods with a greater proportion of foreclosures on investors (FOIs) have higher total and property crime rates in the short term. In Hispanic neighborhoods, a greater proportion of FOIs result in lower rates of crime. Results suggest that neighborhood stabilization efforts should consider the role of investors in driving short-term crime rates, and that police and code enforcement strategies might prioritize neighborhoods with a high proportion of investor foreclosures.

Using Data to Address Health Disparities and Drive Investment in Healthy Neighborhoods

Using Data to Address Health Disparities and Drive Investment in Healthy Neighborhoods

Place-based programs and the geographic dispersion of employment

Government efforts to improve local economic conditions by encouraging private investment in targeted communities could affect the broader geographic distribution of employment in a region, especially to the extent that subsidized businesses face few constraints on whom they hire. This paper examines the labor market impacts of investment subsidized by the U.S. federal government's New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program, which provides tax incentives to promote business investment in low-income neighborhoods. To identify the program's effects, I exploit a discontinuity in the rule determining the eligibility of census tracts for NMTC-subsidized investment. Using rich administrative data on workers' residence and workplace locations, I find evidence that many of the new jobs created in areas that receive subsidized investment do not go to residents of targeted neighborhoods. The results suggest that the local economic benefits of place-based programs may be diluted when subsidized businesses have scope to hire from broader regional labor markets.

Disorder perception is the adaptive interpretation of social cues, not just a sensitivity to randomness.

Disorder perception is the adaptive interpretation of social cues, not just a sensitivity to randomness.

New Parochialism, Sources of Community Investment, and the Control of Street Crime

Research SummaryWe examined Seattle, Washington's Neighborhood Matching Fund (NMF), a unique neighborhood improvement program that provides city funding for projects organized within neighborhoods. We found an inverse relationship between NMF funding and violent crime rates, a relationship that is stronger in poorer neighborhoods. The relationship also is stronger as funds accumulate within the neighborhoods over time. These findings suggest that investment and neighborhood participation can have both short‐term and long‐term crime reduction effects.Policy ImplicationsThe Neighborhood Matching Fund program is associated with significant reductions in crime, even though the program and its projects are not aimed specifically at crime reduction. This observation suggests that policies that encourage neighbors to interact with each other and that facilitate interactions and physical improvements can help reduce crime by improving neighborhood conditions and social relationships. Investments in neighborhoods by the city also can help counteract the negative effects of private disinvestment.

Community Development and the Influence of New Food Retail Sources on the Price and Availability of Nutritious Food

ABSTRACT:Studies have demonstrated links between the accessibility of food and multiple health outcomes. Policymakers engaged in local community development may use public health concerns as a strategy to procure funding for food retail initiatives. Few studies to date have demonstrated the impact that a new food retailer can have on geographic and economic access to nutritious food in a community, evidence which could support the case for new food retail. This paper examines the price and availability of food before and after the opening of two new grocery stores in a former food desert in Flint, Michigan. The results indicate a substantial improvement in both geographic and economic food accessibility, and show no statistical difference between prices at average grocery stores and the new stores. Discussion suggests that investment in poorer neighborhoods can be beneficial to the local population and the community at large by creating a local multiplier effect through increased spending in the community.

Do Asians Demonstate Optimal Compliance In CDC Recommended Pediatric Vaccine Schedule?

To estimate the impacts of a new supermarket in a low-income desert, on residents' economic status and health.We surveyed a randomly selected cohort in two low-income Pittsburgh neighborhoods before and about 1 year following the opening of a supermarket. We used difference-in-difference approach to test changes across the two neighborhoods in residents' food security, United States Department of Agriculture Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infant and Children participation, employment, income, and self-reported health/chronic disease diagnoses.We observed declines in food insecurity (−11.8%, P < .01), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participation (−12.2%, P < .01), and fewer new diagnoses of high cholesterol (−9.6%, P = .01) and arthritis (−7.4%, P = .02) in the neighborhood with the new supermarket relative to residents of the comparison neighborhood. We also found suggestive evidence that residents' incomes increased more ($1550, P = .09) and prevalence of diabetes increased less in the neighborhood with the supermarket than in the comparison neighborhood (−3.6%, P = .10).Locating a new supermarket in a low-income neighborhood may improve residents' economic well-being and health. Policymakers should consider broad impacts of neighborhood investment that could translate into improved health for residents of underserved neighborhoods.

The Transformation of Public Housing Policy, 1985–2011

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Local housing authorities across the U.S. have demolished and disposed of close to 260,000 units of public housing in the past 25 years. While some of these units have been replaced in new mixed-income communities, thousands have been converted to tenant-based subsidies or lost altogether. Using a combination of primary and secondary source materials to build the case for policy change since the 1980s, I trace the recent history of the public housing program to describe how and why this transformation has taken place. Growing concern for concentrations of poverty led to the emergence of mixed-income housing and mobility strategies for low-income, subsidized households. These ideas have come to dominate public housing in the United States. The adoption of new urbanist planning and design principles has also moved public housing policy toward demolition and redevelopment and away from the original model, which persisted for six decades. Political shifts in the 1990s that threatened the existence of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the economic boom experienced by many central cities, have led to widespread demolition of public housing, its replacement with public and private partnerships of mixed-income redevelopment, and renewed private investment in inner-city neighborhoods that had been home to public housing. Takeaway for practice: Older public housing complexes have become sites of redevelopment and investment opportunity in central city areas. This has meant a retrenchment in the public housing program and a shift in housing assistance away toward tenant-based subsidies. The result is fewer permanently affordable units available for very low-income households. Research support: None.

Teaching new markets old tricks: The effects of subsidized investment on low-income neighborhoods

This paper examines the effects of investment subsidized by the federal government's New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program, which provides tax incentives to encourage private investment in low-income neighborhoods. I identify the impacts of the program by taking advantage of a discontinuity in the rule determining the eligibility of census tracts for NMTC-subsidized investment. Using this discontinuity as a source of quasi-experimental variation in commercial development across tracts, I find that subsidized investment has modest positive effects on neighborhood conditions in low-income communities. Though spillovers appear to be small and crowd out incomplete, the results suggest that some of the observed impacts on neighborhoods are attributable to changes in the composition of residents as opposed to improvements in the welfare of existing residents.