Gentrification Near Rail Transit Areas: A Micro-Data Analysis of Moves Into Los Angeles Metro Rail Station Areas

This report seeks to shed light on this latter concern. It begins with a brief summary of the evidence from prior studies on both rail-related housing price increases and changing composition. It then introduces a newly available data source, which we use to examine the relationship between new rail transit station opening and neighborhood income composition. This report aims to determine whether a rail station opening in Los Angeles County is associated with the share and income composition of residents who move in and out of neighborhoods near that rail station. Specifically, we address the following questions regarding gentrification and its tie to rail transit stations: \u2022 Who moves into rail-station neighborhoods and when? \u2022 Are higher income households growing as a share of station area population relative to lower-income households? \u2022 Do rail stations cause this phenomenon or is this happening regardless of the transit investment? The Los Angeles metropolitan area presents an ideal study area for analyzing transit-oriented development (TOD) and potential displacement. Prior to 1990, Los Angeles had not had any intra-urban rail transit service for decades. Since then, 93 new rail-transit stations (see Figure 1 for map) were opened by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (L.A. Metro) and an additional 17 are currently under construction (Boarnet et al., 2015). This buildout amounts to about half of the U.S. spending on new rail transit (L.A. Metro, 2009). Within L.A. Metro, 21% of its budget from 2005-2040 will go toward rail transit capital and operations expenditures (L.A. Metro, 2009). Concurrently, regional and local plans envision that over half of new housing and employment to occur within a half-mile of a well-serviced transit corridor, including rail (L.A. Metro, 2009; SCAG, 2012)

Gentrification Near Rail Transit Areas: A Micro-Data Analysis of Moves into Los Angeles Metro Rail Station Areas

Rail transit and neighborhood compositional changes are becoming clearly linked in the public mind. Examples where rail transit has been associated, at least anecdotally, with neighborhood gentrification abound. In Washington, D.C., the Green and Yellow lines are associated with neighborhood transition north and east of downtown. In Los Angeles, the Gold, Expo, and Red/Purple lines have been associated with gentrification concerns (Zuk & Chapple, 2015a), and similar concerns have been raised regarding the soon-to-open Crenshaw Line. On balance, these same concerns are present in most large metropolitan areas that are building or expanding rail transit.Gentrification is a process of neighborhood change characterized by increasing housing prices and changing demographic and socioeconomic composition of the neighborhood. These components of gentrification are often mutually reinforcing: changing composition can further increase housing prices and vice versa. Prior studies have raised the concern that rail transit expansion catalyzes or exacerbates gentrification (Zuk et al., 2017; Rayle, 2015).This report seeks to shed light on this latter concern. It begins with a brief summary of the evidence from prior studies on both rail-related housing price increases and changing composition. It then introduces a newly available data source, which the authors use to examine the relationship between new rail transit station opening and neighborhood income composition. This report aims to determine whether a rail station opening in Los Angeles County is associated with the share and income composition of residents who move in and out of neighborhoods near that rail station. Specifically, the researchers address the following questions regarding gentrification and its tie to rail transit stations: (1) Who moves into rail-station neighborhoods and when? (2) Are higher income households growing as a share of station area population relative to lower-income households? (3) Do rail stations cause this phenomenon or is this happening regardless of the transit investment?View the NCST Project Webpag

Urban Design that Reduces Vehicle Miles Traveled Can Create Economic Benefits [Policy Brief]

The research showed neighborhoods that support alternatives to car travel are associated with higher\u2014not lower\u2014economic vitality. This policy brief summarizes the findings from that research