Race and Ethnicity Populations Shifts: One of the effects of gentrification is the replacement of exactly the populations of people who breathed life in, inhabited, and given life to a community. New residents are welcomed in based primarily on the extent of their economic privilege, while the cultural and community goods established residents cultivated are discounted. In the United States, the African American/black population lies at the intersection of many different dimensions of disadvantage, and blacks have often disproportionately felt the displacing effects of gentrification. This dynamic is also clearly visible in Oakland. Between 2010 and 2014, Oakland lost 4% of its black population. The loss of the black population in Oakland is particularly felt as African Americans have been a central part of Oakland’s culture, identity, and voice for many generations now. Closer examination of the above map reveals the shifting demographic landscape of Oakland.

Section 8 Mapping: Units were matched with their respective HUD defined Fair Market Rents (FMRs) to identify if someone with a voucher could afford to access (rent) them. This usability was averaged by block group to calculate voucher accessibility by neighborhood. Because the voucher amounts are not competitive with rents that landlords can get from non-voucher holders, once a neighborhood begins to experience investment, landlords stop accepting Section 8, thus forcing voucher holders to move to under-resourced sections of the city. —Data obtained and analyzed by Matt Palm and Deb Neimeier of the National Center for Sustainable Transportation at UC Davis