| Gentrification is an urban process that creates major changes socially in cities around the world. A geographic analysis of this process can improve our understanding of how it impacts inner city neighborhoods. This research is based on the gentrification process in a multicultural community known as Long Island City. Gentrification creates many changes to the socio-economic status (SES), race/ethnicity mix, demographic, and housing characteristics of inner city neighborhoods. In the case of Long Island City, the process has taken the visible form of commercial gentrification but has also changed the spatial patterns of race and ethnicity distributions, which are brought about by the various actions of social institutions. This study uses U.S. Census data, including PUMAs and the American Community survey, to analyze the changes that have occurred in the neighborhood from 1990-2010. The results of this study show that gentrification is having a profound impact on Long Island City's population and housing characteristics. |
