Axios Atlanta, May 19, 2025, Atlanta Ranks Fourth In Gentrification Wiping Out Majority-Black Areas
By the numbers: According to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition’s report, metro Atlanta ranks fourth among areas where gentrification eliminated majority-Black census tracts from 1980 to 2020.
- Out of the 31 tracts that were majority-Black in 1980, 42% no longer fell within that category in 2010.
What they’re saying: Bruce Mitchell, principal researcher at the Coalition, told Axios the report debunks myths floated by some scholars that gentrification and displacement aren’t occurring.
- “This report shows that, indeed, there are strong indications that it certainly is occurring, and that people on the ground are correctly perceiving the situation in their neighborhoods,” he said.
- He also said people living in gentrified areas often feel a sense of cultural loss, as they no longer feel what the report describes as “social cohesion” with their communities.
Yes, and: Atlanta also ranks fifth in the number of majority-Black Census tracts that became majority-white.
- From 1980 through 2020, 22,149 Black residents were displaced from 16 majority-Black census tracts.
- During that span, 22,965 white, 2,414 Asian, and 1,672 Hispanic people moved into those same areas.
- Mitchell said Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward neighborhood is an example of a community that’s undergone a complete racial transition.
- Neighborhoods like Edgewood and East Atlanta are following suit, he said.
Context: Mitchell said two types of gentrifications typically take place: one where a person moves into a neighborhood and rehabilitates property, which in turn can attract new businesses and increase property values.
- That almost always leads to legacy residents being displaced from their communities.
