“You Can’t Park There!”: Urban Revitalization and the Regulation of Public Space

Abstract

In this study, we examine how gentrification shapes the enforcement of residential parking permit violations while accounting for calls for service. And we consider if the relationship between calls for service and parking violations is contingent upon a given neighborhood's stage of gentrification. Using Washington, D.C. as a study site, we find that census block groups in early as opposed to late stages of gentrification tend to have the highest citation rates. And, this effect holds regardless of whether said block groups are located adjacent to those experiencing later stages of urban renewal. Moreover, the impact of calls for parking enforcement on citation activity varies by gentrification stage. Within early stage block groups, each additional increase in logged calls for service is associated with a 47% increase in citation activity.