Name: Static Interactive
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Over the past decades, New York City and much of the surrounding region has experienced a remarkable turnaround. Our robust transit system, walkable neighborhoods, reduced crime and diverse and international character have positioned New York City, and some other places in the region, as leaders of the recent urban renaissance.

But this success has come at a price. Housing costs have skyrocketed even as wages have stagnated. Some outer borough neighborhoods that were once thought of as bastions of the working- and middle-class have seen a surge of wealthy residents. The idea that people can find a comfortable place to put down community roots for the long term is increasingly precarious. The pressure on poorer residents to leave for more distant areas and make way for people who can afford more has seemingly moved from neighborhood to neighborhood with little slowdown, overcoming recessions, natural disasters, and concerted efforts from government and community organizations alike. There is a common thread in the areas experiencing these pressures: They are walkable areas with good access to jobs and public transit. And they also are the areas where the people most vulnerable to displacement are likely to live.

Regional Plan Association hosted a half-day forum to discuss housing affordability and displacement pressures felt by many residents of the New York metropolitan region.

The rising gap between housing costs and incomes can strain budgets and limit housing choices even for many middle-class individuals and families. This report focuses on the impact of rising rents and neighborhood change on low and moderate-income households. These residents not only have fewer choices when they are priced out of their homes, they are also more likely to live in the neighborhoods where the biggest changes are taking place. And the instability caused by displacement has a much bigger impact on the lives of people with few resources to adapt to the resulting financial, social and psychological disruption.

RPA conducted a detailed analysis of not just New York City, but the entire metropolitan region, in order to determine three things:

Where are residents vulnerable to displacement?
Where are the neighborhoods that are likely to experience gentrification and displacement pressures in the future, and how do they overlap with the vulnerable populations?
Where are the areas currently seeing the kind of housing market activity that can lead to price pressures and displacement?

Our findings were supplemented with interviews with low- and moderate- income residents of the region in order to understand their current living conditions, experiences with displacement, and future housing hopes. Interviewees were reached through RPA’s fourth regional plan community engagement program.