Neighborhood Change Report: 2021 Update

By Kendra Taylor, Project Manager

Like many cities across the Sunbelt, Atlanta has seen substantial population growth in the last decade. Population growth provides many opportunities for cities and their residents, from increased public and private investments made possible by increased population density, to cheaper provision of public services, to increased innovation and economic activity. However, population growth, if the housing supply does not keep up with the demand from existing and new residents, can lead to negative externalities like low-income displacement and poverty concentration. The Neighborhood Change Report released in early 2021 describes the neighborhood-level demographic change that occurred in Atlanta from 2010-2018 using American Community Survey data. Some of the main findings from the report include that while most neighborhoods did not experience substantial change in their low-income and non-low-income residents during this period, of the roughly third of neighborhoods in the city that did, the most common form of change was low-income displacement. But there were also other types of change that occurred during this period, including neighborhoods that experienced population decline and neighborhoods that saw the concentration of poverty. Additionally, there were neighborhoods that saw increases in both their low-income and non-low-income populations, that is, population growth without substantial low-income displacement.

We noted that these are particularly important neighborhoods to monitor as vulnerable to low-income displacement because if diverse housing types are not available to residents, low-income residents will find it increasingly more difficult to afford housing in these neighborhoods. Finally, in the report, we discussed on neighborhood demographic change is related to major public investments, finding that areas of the city that have had major public investments saw both population growth and low-income displacement.

Since releasing the Neighborhood Change Report, a new American Community Survey has been released which allows us to review if results of the Neighborhood Change Report would differ if using the most recent release of data (2019) instead of the previous iteration (2018). One important citywide trend to note that occurred when examining the new data was that from 2018-2019, there was a decline in low-income residents in the city. This contrasts with the longer-term trend from 2010-2018 discussed in the Neighborhood Change report where there was an increase of both low-income and non-low-income residents, although non-low-income residents grew at a faster pace during that period. When examining the neighborhood change that occurred from 2010-2019 (with the updated data), we found that several neighborhoods that were categorized as “No Substantial Change” from 2010–2018 were either “Growth” or “LI Displacement” when measuring change from 2010–2019. These findings reaffirm the prevalence of this type of neighborhood change in Atlanta and that low-income displacement amid population growth continues to be a pressing policy concern in Atlanta. However, this is far from the only type of neighborhood change that has occurred. There was an additional neighborhood that experienced population decline when using the updated data, and there continue to be a subset of neighborhoods experiencing the concentration of poverty.

As the City continues to advocate for policies that support both dedicated and naturally occurring affordable housing to prevent low-income displacement, from the new Westside Inclusionary Zoning Overlay to zoning reforms that increase the type and diversity of housing available, the dynamics of neighborhood change are at the forefront of residents and policymakers’ concerns. The Neighborhood Change Report: 2021 Update provides additional data and context to frame these critical conversations.

View the updated change report here .

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