DC Accepted Papers Paper:
The Effect of Gentrification on Eviction Rates in Washington, D.C. Neighborhoods
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
Evictions are commonplace in the United States and are associated with significant negative outcomes related to the health, financial wellbeing, and housing stability of the evicted. One mechanism through which evictions might occur is housing market pressure associated with gentrification. This thesis examines the relationship between gentrification and eviction rates in Washington, D.C., one of the most intensely gentrifying cities in the United States. I hypothesize that rapid gentrification in D.C. neighborhoods, combined with a legal context that incentivizes landlords to turn over residents, may result in higher eviction rates in gentrifying neighborhoods than in non-gentrifying neighborhoods of similar economic, demographic, and housing characteristics. I use census data on D.C. neighborhoods to examine the association between economic and demographic changes and gentrification between 2000 and 2016. To measure eviction rates, I use a novel court record dataset on all evictions filed in D.C. between 2014 and 2019. Descriptive statistics suggest that census tracts in D.C. vary widely in how they changed economically and demographically between 2000 and 2016 and suggests that this variance is tied to whether or not tracts were low-income in 2000.
