Streetcars and Equity: Case Studies of Four Streetcar Systems Assessing Change in Jobs, People, and Gentrification

Where it occurs, the economic development that accompanies streetcar investments is the result of synergies between the public investment in the transit infrastructure and private investment in real estate development and redevelopment. In this article, the authors ask: If streetcars promote economic development, do the benefits of that economic development accrue to existing residents of the neighborhood, or is the degree of change so great that the neighborhood experiences extensive population turnover? Ideally, new investment in a neighborhood would result in new economic advantages for residents, in the form of new jobs or business opportunities, greater mobility due to transit improvements, and higher real estate values. Alternatively, the change associated with the streetcar project may be so profound that pre-existing residents are unable to hang on and are forced out due to increasing rents and/or cost-of-living. The authors apply these questions to analyses of streetcar stations in Portland OR, Seattle WA, New Orleans LA, and Salt Lake City UT. They use demographic and employment data to study neighborhoods surrounding streetcar stops in their four cities before and after the streetcar project, in comparison with control sites, and in a shift-share analysis. Overall, the authors see profound shifts occurring at most of their streetcar study sites. The patterns vary, but these locations are certainly loci of demographic change, and at many of them the data are in line with some classic indicators of gentrification, including shifts toward more white and Asian, highly-educated and higher-income populations.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AP075 Standing Committee on Light Rail Transit.
• Authors:
  • Hinners, Sarah Jack
  • Nelson, Arthur C
  • 0000-0003-2578-3884
  • Buchert, Martin
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2018-1-7 to 2018-1-11
• Date: 2018

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: 36p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Case studies; Economic and social factors; Economic development; Equity; Jobs; Population movements; Streetcars
• Uncontrolled Terms: Gentrification
• Geographic Terms: New Orleans (Louisiana); Portland (Oregon); Salt Lake City (Utah); Seattle (Washington)
• Subject Areas: Economics; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01658039
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 18-00336
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jan 26 2018 9:47AM