New Map Shows Where Ft. Greene Has Gentrified, And Where It Will

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN — It likely won't come as a surprise to those who live there that gentrification — soaring housing prices that have forced black families out of their neighborhood — has already hit parts of Fort Greene. But a new interactive map might be able to predict which areas will see the economic shift next.

The new map, released by nonprofit National Community Reinvestment Coalition, reveals that black people have been displaced from two regions — one in the center of Clinton Hill and another near its border with Fort Greene — as home values and income levels spike.

But other areas, like blocks surrounding Fort Greene Park and the northernmost section of the neighborhood, were deemed "eligible" for economic shift.

The study used U.S. Census Bureau tract data to identify more than 1,000 gentrified neighborhoods across the country, outlining where black, Asian, Hispanic or white displacement has already happened and where it likely will soon.

Perhaps the most startling numbers in the Fort Greene and Clinton Hill area are from a small stretch of blocks between Clinton Avenue and Adelphi Street, where the median home value more than quadrupled from about $240,000 in 2000 to $1 million in 2010. Incomes in this area also spiked, doubling from a median of $46,000 to $107,000.

The black population went down by more than 100 people in this time period, the data shows.

Just south of this area, four blocks between Hall Street and Vanderbilt Avenue saw an even sharper decline. The black population went down by nearly 1,000 people in the 10 years. Median home values in this area doubled, though income levels went up only about $10,000.

In the two sections of Fort Greene primed for gentrification, home values have more than doubled in those 10 years and the black population has already started to decline.

The results give with the researchers findings that larger cities saw gentrification and displacement spread across different neighborhood clusters, unlike in smaller cities where gentrification was more concentrated.

The nation’s capital saw the highest percentage of gentrified neighborhoods at 40 percent. More than 20,000 people were displaced in Washington, D.C. alone.

Here are the 10 cities where gentrification has been most intense:

1. Washington, D.C — 40 percent
2. San Diego, CA — 29 percent
3. New York, NY — 24 percent
4. Albuquerque, NM — 23 percent
5. Atlanta, GA — 22 percent
6. Baltimore, MD — 22 percent
7. Portland, OR — 20 percent
8. Pittsburgh, PA — 20 percent
9. Seattle, WA — 20 percent
10. Philadelphia, PA — 17 percent

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.