Is “Gaytrification” a Real Phenomenon?

Abstract

Gentrification is an oft-sought solution to urban blight, and it has been proposed, for various reasons, that the presence of gays and lesbians is associated with an increased probability that an area will gentrify. Using census tract-level data from the 30 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) in the United States, we find that areas with more same-sex coupled households do, indeed, have a higher predicted probability of gentrifying from 2000 to 2010. A 1 percentage point increase in the number of same-sex coupled households is associated with an almost 2% to 3% increase in the probability of gentrification. We define gentrification as a change in the relative standing of a census tract with respect to average income and/or housing prices, and this finding is robust to various definitions of gentrification within these categories. This influence is persistent after controlling for family size, household income, the presence of different-sex, unmarried couples, and access to amenities.