NYU Urban Seminar: Daniel Hartley on Gentrification & Labor Demand

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On October 6th, the NYU Urban Seminar series, co-hosted by the NYU Furman Center and the Marron Institute, welcomed Daniel Hartley, a policy economist from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. He presented his paper on his current research entitled, Gentrification and Changes in the Spatial Structure of Labor Demand (PDF), which explores the effect of labor demand on neighborhood change.

Hartley defines gentrification as the outward shift in housing demand in a neighborhood, particularly those inhabited by low-income residents. Despite the large amount of economics research on gentrification—as well as the buzz in the media—there exists a relatively small amount of literature approaching the subject from a policy perspective. His research attempts to fill this gap by identifying the causes of neighborhood change as well as the consequences and correlates.

Hartley suggests that gentrification is more likely to be found in areas that are experiencing positive labor demand shocks. He suggests that convergence—the standardization of neighborhoods—occurs following a positive labor shock, which causes the neighborhoods in an area to start becoming more similar. Looking at central business districts of all major cities in the country, Hartley found that there was a decrease in middle- to high-income families living in neighborhoods close to these areas from the 1970s into the 1980s. The trend reverses itself from the 1990s into the 2000s, showcasing the effect the economic boom had on gentrification during this period.

Hartley's research also explores choices of various demographic groups and their impact on neighborhood change. He finds that young, working-class whites are choosing to live in downtown neighborhoods at a higher rate now than in previous decades. He also finds that people with more education are choosing to live in the central business districts of urban areas. Hartley's work is ongoing; his working paper is available here (PDF). 

The NYU Urban Seminar series is co-hosted by the NYU Furman Center and the Marron Institute. The speaker series is focused on research with implications for urban policy, and features a variety of researchers from across the U.S. discussing their work. View the full list of fall 2015 speakers. The NYU Urban Seminar is open to the public; registration is required.