Understanding the Determinants of Single-family Residential Redevelopment in the Inner-ring Suburbs of Chicago

Abstract

This study identifies the determinants of single-family residential redevelopment considering both individual housing physical and locational characteristics and the socioeconomic characteristics of the neighbourhood and district within which the house is located. A non-nested multilevel logit analysis is performed on a parcel-level dataset of all single-family residential parcels located within 128 inner-ring suburbs of Chicago, between 2000 and 2010. Findings indicate that properties with smaller houses, lower floor-area to lot-size ratios, and lower ratios of their value to that of their neighbourhood, as well as properties located in high-quality school districts, are more likely to be redeveloped. The median property value of a neighbourhood does not have a large effect on whether a property is redeveloped, but neighbourhoods with higher proportions of Black and Hispanic residents were significantly less likely to experience redevelopment.