Interrogating the Importance of Collective Resources for the Relationship of Gentrification With Health

Abstract

The relationship of neighborhood conditions with health outcomes has been well documented, but less is known about importance of neighborhood change. Research that examined the relationship of gentrification with health outcomes produced mixed results, but only a few studies were able to examine the role of local social capital as a potential moderating influence. Using a survey of Hurricane Katrina survivors, tract-level health estimates from the 500 Cities Project, and tract-level census data, we assess the relationship of gentrification with self-reported physical and mental health, controlling for four measures of neighborhood collective resources in post-Katrina New Orleans, Louisiana. Our findings indicate rates of poor self-rated physical and mental health were higher in neighborhoods that experienced gentrification and that other neighborhood changes may function to dampen the impacts of gentrification on health outcomes. Our results underscore the importance of considering local community characteristics in evaluating the relationship of gentrification with health.

Keywords:

• demographics
• gentrification
• health care
• neighborhood

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael S. Barton

Michael S. Barton is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at Louisiana State University. His research interests are in the areas of criminology and urban sociology. He has recently published in several academic outlets including Homicide Studies, Crime & Delinquency, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Urban Studies, Social Science Research, Deviant Behavior and PLOS ONE.

Frederick D. Weil

Frederick D. Weil is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. He is currently researching community response to Covid-19 in New Orleans and the state of Louisiana with an NSF grant. He has been researching community recovery from Hurricane Katrina, crime, health, short-term rentals, and neighborhood change in New Orleans, as well as grassroots mentoring in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Chicago, and photographic “neighborhood portraits” in New Orleans. He earlier conducted research on transitions to democracy in Germany and other countries.

Nicholas Van De Voorde

Nicholas Van De Voorde is a doctoral candidate in Sociology at Louisiana State University. His research focuses primarily on the spatial impacts of marijuana legalization, but other areas of interest include crime, policing, and issues related to space, place, and the urban-rural continuum. He currently resides in the New Orleans area with his wife and two pugs.