D.C. is falling down a list of the most intensely gentrified cities in the United States.
After the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) placed D.C. at the top of their rankings in 2019, the District dropped to 13th place in this year’s report.
The study, which covers the years 2013 to 2017, looks at thousands of potentially eligible neighborhoods that might become gentrified across the nation.
Researchers found it became a reality in 14 D.C. neighborhoods out of some 80 that could have headed in that direction.
That comes out to a D.C. gentrification rate of almost 17%, which is a far cry from its 41% rate last year.
D.C. now trails other major cities, such as Denver, Boston and San Francisco, which currently sits atop of this year’s rankings.
While D.C. did fall, the report notes that gentrification did continue but said the pace “seems to have slackened” and that it “surged elsewhere” in the country.
The coalition produced a map that highlights District neighborhoods that gentrified during their 2013-2017 time frame.
They include Columbia Heights, Petworth and NoMa along with sections of Navy Yard and Capitol Hill.
NCRC also looked at the correlation between gentrification and so-called Opportunity Zones, areas designated by city and state leaders for development and tax breaks.
The study found opportunity zones were in areas in most need of investment, and they found “a close association between neighborhoods that gentrified and where (Opportunity Zones) were located.”
